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Page 1: 144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning - The eLearning Guild

Edited by Bill BrandonSponsored by

144 Tips onSynchronous

e-LearningStrategy + Research

Page 2: 144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning - The eLearning Guild

Copyright © 2008 by The eLearning GuildPublished by The eLearning Guild375 E Street, Suite 200Santa Rosa, CA 95404www.elearningguild.com

You may download, display, print, and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retainingthis notice) for your personal, non-commercial use, or use within your organization. All otherrights are reserved.

This is a FREE Digital eBook. No one is authorized to charge a fee for it, or to use it to collect data.

Attribution notice for information from this publication must be given, must credit the individ-ual contributor in any citation, and should take the following form: The eLearning Guild's 144 Tipson Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research

Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites, offered as citations or sources for further infor-mation, may have disappeared, or been changed, between the date this book was published andthe date it is read.

Other FREE Digital eBooks by The eLearning Guild include:The eLearning Guild's Handbook of e-Learning StrategyThe eLearning Guild's Handbook on Synchronous e-Learning162 Tips and Tricks for Working with e-Learning Tools834 Tips for Successful Online Instruction328 Tips on the SELECTION of an LMS or LCMS339 Tips on the IMPLEMENTATION of an LMS or LCMS311 Tips on the MANAGEMENT of an LMS or LCMS239 Tips for Producing and Managing Flash-based e-Learning Content

Publisher: David HolcombeEditorial Director: Heidi FiskEditor: Bill BrandonCopy Editor: Charles HolcombeDesign Director: Nancy Marland Wolinski

The eLearning Guild™ Advisory BoardRuth Clark, Lance Dublin, Conrad Gottfredson, Bill Horton, Bob Mosher, Eric Parks, Brenda Pfaus,Marc Rosenberg, Allison Rossett.

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 2

Page 3: 144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning - The eLearning Guild

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 3

I. How to Use These Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

II. The eLearning Guild’s Research on Synchronous Learning Strategy . . . . . . . .7

A. Synchronous Tool Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

B. Best Practices in Synchronous Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

III. 11 Tips for Blending Synchronous Learning with Other Learning

Modalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

IV. 49 Tips for Designers of Synchronous Presentations,

Courses, and Webinars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

V. 8 Tips for Managers Who Lead Synchronous Learning Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

VI. 53 Tips for Synchronous Speakers and Instructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

VII. 23 Tips for Technical Production, Planning, and Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

About Guild membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Table of Contents

List of AdsAdobe Acrobat Connect Pro: Solution Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 – 6

Adobe eLearning Solutions for Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 – 14

Adobe Case Study: Grundfos Management A/S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 – 22

Adobe Case Study: Ontario Ministry of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 – 30

Adobe Case Study: Philips Medical Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 – 38

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro for eLearning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

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A. IntroductionIn April and May, 2008, The eLearning Guild conducted a survey of its members, asking for

their favorite tips relating to strategies for effectively creating, managing, and using synchronouse-Learning. Members could submit tips relating to any or all of five different categories. A total of 80 members responded to the survey, contributing 144 usable tips. Two tipsters were anony-mous, and, because all tips had a 4000 character limit, the input system truncated one of thetips. As is usual in our past surveys, the tips range in length from one-sentence ideas all the wayup to multi-page discourses. Some are very basic in nature, and others are quite advanced.

We edited the tips lightly, including the usual spelling corrections. In a few cases whereEnglish did not appear to be the Tipster's primary language, we had to make guesses as to whatthe Tipster meant – otherwise, everything you see in this book is in the tipsters' own words. As a result, we believe that these tips will be useful to any designer or developer looking for bestpractices to incorporate into their own processes.

We began turning these tips into an organized collection simply by sorting them. The largestgroup is the 53 tips for Synchronous Speakers and Instructors. The next largest (49 tips) consistsof recommended practices and general tips for designers.

Because many of the tips were long, and addressed more than one idea, it was not possible tosort the tips further into sub-categories.

After each tip, we give the name of the tipster who provided it. This may help you to contactTipsters for additional information.

We deeply appreciate the effort that contributors made to create these tips. We hope you findmany valuable ideas here that can help you as you create Synchronous online learning.

This FREE Digital eBook would not have been possible were it not for a generous contributionto its development from Adobe. If you're not familiar with their products, or if you haven'tchecked them out lately, we encourage you to look at their offerings soon!

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 4

I. How to Use These Tips

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Solution Brief

Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Pro for eLearningEasily create and deliver compelling self-paced courses, conduct highly interactive virtual classes, and efficiently manage training programs

Technology should make eLearning a rich, interactive experience—not a slow, cumbersome ordeal. That’s why Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro software offers a captivating interface and interactive tools to help participants learn and retain the material that you teach in virtual classes and self-paced courses—and enjoy doing it. You can quickly design compelling courses with templates and a library of content, teach more effectively with instructor management tools, and track learner progress to make sure your eLearning is actually achieving its goals.

Acrobat Connect Pro removes the common barriers to eLearning by giving learners instant, hassle-free access to courses and virtual classrooms. Other eLearning solutions require specialized software or plug-in downloads, but Acrobat Connect Pro delivers learners to the classroom with just a click—from anywhere, at anytime, on almost any device. All they need is what they already have: a web browser and the ubiquitous Adobe Flash® Player software, already installed on 98% of Internet-connected computers.

Rapid training: Get training where it’s needed, when it’s neededAdobe Acrobat Connect Pro software provides interactive tools to help you deliver engaging training that users can instantly access from anywhere. You can quickly design courses that leverage existing Microsoft PowerPoint content using Adobe Presenter software, and create interactive simulations using Adobe Captivate® software. Managing courses is easy with enrollment tools, automatic learner notifications, and custom report features. All your learners do is click on a URL—no downloads or plug-ins required—and work through courses at their own pace, wherever and whenever it’s convenient for them.

•Designcompellingcontent—nospecializedprogrammingskillsrequired

• IncorporateexistingPowerPointcontent

• Easilyaddaudioandvideofilesforarichuserexperience

•Createinteractivetutorialsandsimulations

•Manageenrollmentandnotification

•Allowlearnerstoself-enrollthroughonlinecatalog

•Addressavarietyoflearningstyles

• Evaluatecontenteffectivenesswithcustomizedtrainingreports

• Trackindividuallearnerprogress

Why Adobe for eLearning?

No downloads. Instant access. The ability to captivate your audience with live classes and on-demand courses. That’s what makes Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro a leader in eLearning solutions.

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Adobe Systems Incorporated 345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95110-2704 USA www.adobe.com

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat Connect, Captivate, and Flash are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Mac OS and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Intel, Intel Core, and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. PowerPC is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. SUSE is a trademark of Novell, Inc. Red Hat is a trademark or registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Java and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

© 2008 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

95010742 4/08

Virtual classrooms: Deliver live, interactive contentWhile virtual classrooms can save time and money, if the experiences are static and boring, what is the real cost? With Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro software, you can empower trainers to capture and keep learners’ attention and help increase knowledge retention by making the experience fun and interactive. You can quickly create online classes with customizable layouts and reusable, archived content—and even connect students with audio, video, and interactive simulations to address a variety of learning styles, just like you would in a physical classroom.

•DeliverandtrackAdobePresentercoursesinsidevirtualclassrooms

•Customizeclassroomlayoutsandsavethemastemplatesforreuse

•Usebreakoutroomstofocusdiscussions

• Enablealllearnerstopracticeatthesametime

•Recordandreplayinteractivesessions,ordownloadtoviewoffline

• Evaluatevirtualclassroomeffectivenesswithcustomizedreports

• Trackindividuallearnerprogress

Flexible deployment options for organizations of all kindsAdobe has perfected its product development process over 25 years. That’s why you can be confident that Acrobat Connect Pro is ready on day one of your implementation—whether you’re a university, government agency, or Fortune 500 enterprise.

Hosted or on-premiseAcrobat Connect Pro can be deployed as a licensed software product, on-premise, behind your firewall, to provide complete control. Or it can be purchased on a subscription basis as a hosted service, with full end-to-end 128-bit SSL encryption available.

Built on open standardsAcrobat Connect Pro is based on an open, extensible architecture that supports cost-effective integration with existing infrastructure and future investments. Acrobat Connect Pro uses standards such as XML and Java™ to exchange data, and it offers a full developer resource centerwithhundredsofAPIsandSDKs.

Protected contentAdobe understands your need to protect sensitive information. Acrobat Connect Pro provides tight access control and security on all content to ensure that meetings and related information are viewable only by your intended audience.For more information

For more details about Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro, visit www.adobe.com/acrobatconnectpro.

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In addition to asking members for tips,The eLearning Guild is in the final stages of producingthe 360° Report on Synchronous Learning Systems for 2008. This report draws on continuously-updated input from Guild members at all levels, and provides many insights into the strategiesthat practitioners use.

Here's a sneak peek at significant findings about overall strategies regarding the use of synchro-nous tools, and about best practices, that will be in the upcoming report.

A. Synchronous Tool UseA reasonable question to ask is,“Who uses synchronous e-Learning tools?”• Guild organizations use synchronous e-Learning tools 63.7% of the time. Organizations with

over 5,000 workers use these tools even more often (71.1%), while those with 500 or fewerworkers use them less often (58.8%).

• Guild organizations in the U.S. lead in use of synchronous tools (65.4%), with Central and LatinAmerica right behind at 64%. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) use synchronoustools least often (53.8%), while Asia-Pacific and Canada are at 55.7% and 59.1%, respectively.

• Telecom organizations are most likely to use synchronous tools (84.9%), while local govern-ments are least likely to use them (22.2%).

• Guild members with more experience (over 4 years) use synchronous e-Learning more often,and they use it more often in 2008 than they did in 2007.

• 30% of Guild members use more than one synchronous tool to deliver instruction online.

B. Best Practices in Synchronous LearningIn the latest research report, we highlight six best practices that differentiate organizations that

report receiving very good return on investment (ROI) from synchronous e-Learning, and thosewho report poor or modest ROI. These are:

• Obtaining support from upper management for synchronous e-Learning,• Using change management practices,• Using a third party of their own choosing as a host (versus hosting synchronous sessions inter-

nally, or having the vendor host the sessions),• Delivering synchronous e-Learning through their learning management system (LMS),• Using instructor-led (classroom) training much less often, and synchronous e-Learning much

more often, than organizations that report poor or modest ROI, and• Formally training the instructors who use the synchronous tools.

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 7

Guild organiza-tions use synchro-nous e-Learningtools 63.7% of the time. Organi-zations with over5,000 workers usethese tools evenmore often (71.1%),while those with500 or fewerworkers use themless often (58.8%).

II. The eLearning Guild’s Research onSynchronous Learning Strategy

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Blend Content-Heavy Courses: A basic course that exceeds eight hours in duration is generallytoo long to keep the attention of a typical learner in today's fast-paced world. Take what the learn-ers need to “know,” and put that content in a self-directed e-Learning module; then give the learn-ers the opportunity to practice what they need to “do” in a face-to-face synchronous environment.Give your learners a well-deserved break from feeding them so much content at one sitting —they're full!

“Tap the Room:” Keep the synchronous classroom experience interactive and engaging, andfacilitate the experiences of the learners in the room (or virtual room) to help reinforce your con-tent. Try not to present more than 10 to 15 minutes of content at one time without some sort ofinteraction, sharing of experiences, or group activity. This will keep the energy up, interest piqued,and your learners awake!

Know Your Learners' Needs: As trainers, we often think we know our learners' needs. However, itcan be deceiving. As you plan your synchronous course, take the time to conduct a needs analysis.Find the “true” needs of your learners.Where's their pain? What's working? And more importantly,what's not working? For example, problems with workplace security may not require training thewhole organization on the security policy, but rather coaching a small group of employees how toproperly set door alarms at the end of the day. Discover the real problem before you jump to thesolution.

Don't Throw the Books Out with the Bathwater:There is value in books, manuals, and writtenreference materials included in the synchronous training environment, but don't use words toreplace examples, images, and experiences. Create custom written materials by integrating onlythe portions of the written materials that pertain to your training topic. Learn to be more specific,and customize your materials for precisely the right support.

Visuals Are Meant to Be Seen, Not Heard: Use PowerPoint and other visual support tools forsupport only, not for teaching content or replacing the spoken word. Many of us may find our-selves relying on our PowerPoint slides to be the main vehicle for communicating content, butthat is not how to best use visuals. Besides, if your learners are reading the screen, they're not lis-tening to you! Visuals are an excellent way of reinforcing concepts, showing examples, and help-ing to connect your learner to the information. Use them sparingly and when appropriate, butdon't rely on them to speak for you.

Michael Sunnarborg, Sr. Training Specialist,Target Corporation

To optimize learning outcomes and maximize authentic assessment — try combining synchro-nous learning with asynchronous support and progress checks.We recently, for example, devel-oped a conference focused on creating initiatives designed for implementation by attendees overthe course of the year. Throughout the project cycle, we provided attendees access to asynchro-nous and just-in-time learning, networking, and support resources in the form of:

• Recorded Web events (synchronous with asynchronous access to the recorded event),• A wiki center where attendees build their own “lessons learned and best practices” database,• Discussion boards where attendees and business partners can network,• Requested resources and peer mentoring, and

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 8

To optimize learn-ing outcomes andmaximize authen-tic assessment –try combiningsynchronouslearning withasynchronoussupport andprogress checks.

Kelley Chrouser,Professional Development

Program Manager,Association of Legal

Administrators

III. 11 Tips for Blending Synchronous Learning with Other Learning Modalities

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• Online resources provided by conference sponsors, conference hosts and conference speakers,all on an as-needed basis.

As a result, learners are creating real-world deliverables with measurable outcomes for theirown workplaces.

For another synchronous learning event, we added asynchronous learning assets that partici-pants could access prior to the synchronous event. The asynchronous learning assets provide boththe means and opportunity for creating a pre-existing knowledge base. This enables synchronousevent facilitators and trainers to focus on higher-order learning objectives, within a limited time-frame, in ways in which they were not previously able to do. Adding asynchronous events aftersynchronous events also provides trainers or instructors a means to more adequately assess learn-ing along all four dimensions of the Kirkpatrick model of assessment.

Kelley Chrouser, Professional Development Program Manager, Association of Legal Administrators

For an effective learning experience, blend Virtual-Classroom-based training with In-Personclassroom-based training, wherever viable. Do this in a 25 % (In-Person) and 75 % (VirtualClassroom) ratio.

• Use In-Person training for teaching concepts, foundation, simple examples, and for establish-ing rapport.

• Use Virtual Classroom training for covering more examples, subtleties of concepts, case stud-ies, etc.

• If In-Person is not feasible, then one could substitute pre-recorded multimedia learning objectsfor that component.

This blend will give the best of both the objectives — “effective learning” experience with “any-where learning” flexibility and scalability of training activities.

Raj Chirputkar, Vice President & Head — e Learning, SEED Infotech Ltd, Pune, India

If you require pre-work or other assignments, review them and build on them in the class.Everyone remembers the college professor who asked you to read a chapter for homework, andthen basically quoted the chapter in the next class. You could have skipped the reading and takennotes. You felt like you wasted your time, and then you didn't read any more of the chapters forthe rest of the term. Don't lose your credibility with the participants. Pre-work, and other assess-ments, should be purposeful, worth the time to do them, and relevant to the formal learning ses-sions.

Tracy Ross, Instructional Designer, Intel Corporation

Blended learning is a very effective method for delivering training, and requires preparation tobe successful. Unlike traditional classroom-based training, blended learning has many movingparts. For example, in a traditional classroom program, the facilitator is preparing for a “live” event,shipping materials, traveling to a location, preparing notes, checking enrollments, etc. In the blend-

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 9

For an effectivelearning experi-ence, blend Vir-tual-Classroom-based trainingwith In-Personclassroom-basedtraining, wherev-er viable. Do thisin a 25 % (In-Per-son) and 75 %(Virtual Class-room) ratio.

Raj Chirputkar,Vice President & Head —

e Learning, SEED InfotechLtd, Pune, India

III. Tips for Blending Synchronous Learning with Other Learning Modalities continued

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ed environment, the facilitator may still be responsible for completing the classroom steps, how-ever the blended environment requires much more.

This guide will help you decide whether Blended Learning is appropriate, and how to prepare. Itwill outline the necessary steps that go beyond the traditional classroom-based training program.

Where Do I Begin?Blended learning is still a fairly new approach to learning, and often times, people become dis-

tracted by the interaction between people and technology. TIP: “Training is training.” At the end ofthe day, regardless of the design, you are still trying to accomplish the same things — skill devel-opment and knowledge transfer. Therefore, the best place to start is to use the ADDIE instruction-al design model. ADDIE is a long-time, battle-tested, approach to instructional design that canhelp guide you to the most effective delivery approach.1. Analysis of Key Outcomes: Assess training need

a.Why is the training being requested or created?b. Analyze learning environment

– Learner demographic– Physical environment– Technology environment

c. Identify learner expectationsd. Determine the learner motivation (required, requested, voluntary, compliant training)e.What level of proficiency is required?f. Identify type of support required

– Program management or learner management– Support required for different delivery modalities– System support

g. Identify existing documents, job aids, references, and resources, and determine if they mayusable for this initiative

2. Designa. Draft learning objectives and desired outcomesb. Create measurements

– Criterion- or skills-based– Program Key Performance Indicators (i.e. X% will pass the exam or become certified)

c. Identify expected course duration, and acceptable time a learner should devote to completethe lesson or program

d. Design applications requiring the learner to demonstrate they are actively participating in theprogram (i.e. # of thread discussion comments, working with a partner, sending project infor-mation to the facilitator)

e.Which modalities are available, and most effective, to develop the learner skills and meet thecriteria?

f. Facilitator requirements and support: Does the facilitator require training on use of virtualtools? Does the facilitator need support with chat or Q&A during Web collaboration?

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 10

Blended learningis still a fairlynew approach to learning, andoften times, peo-ple become dis-tracted by theinteraction bet-ween people andtechnology. TIP:“Training is train-ing.” At the endof the day, regard-less of the design,you are still try-ing to accomplishthe same things –skill developmentand knowledgetransfer.

Sean M. Colfer,Chief Learning Officer,

Colfer Solutions, Inc.

III. Tips for Blending Synchronous Learning with Other Learning Modalities continued

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g. Create a practice environment where learners can practice labs, work together on projects,break out rooms, etc.

h.What other supporting tools are required (i.e. headphones, customer support)? At this point,you should have a good idea whether a Blended Learning program is appropriate. Keep inmind the support required to maintain the Blended Learning environment, including accessto technology, user support, and program management. These can be "show stoppers" if anorganization does not have the necessary resources to fully support the Blended Learningprogram. If you choose Blended Learning, continue to the next steps to develop and imple-ment your solution.

3. Developa. Leverage existing material or content (don't reinvent the wheel) b. Create new content and/or materials c. Develop learner and job aids, including how to be a successful virtual learner.d. Develop facilitator resources, if applicable. For example, your blended design may not require

an instructor, which makes this step unnecessary.e. Develop a communication plan. THIS IS A CRITICAL STEP TO ENSURE YOUR BLENDED PRO-

GRAM IS SUCCESSFUL.– You must maintain constant communication with the learners, pre, during

(Tip truncated because it exceeded 4000 characters.)

Sean M. Colfer, Chief Learning Officer, Colfer Solutions, Inc.

Asking your group,“Did you read last night's homework?” usually brings on a long silence. Trythis instead: Give an additional instruction with the homework, such as,“We'll start tomorrow'sclass by having each participant tell something to the class that he or she learned in the lesson.”

Jill Easterday, Consultant

To decide whether e-Learning is the appropriate format for a topic, consider the following:Should the student use different methods to accomplish the same goal, depending on the individ-ual situation? If so, be aware that many e-Learning formats limit the amount of process branchingavailable, especially for assessments. If it is important that the student understand that differentcircumstances require different methods, instructor-led learning may be more appropriate, sinceyou can customize it to the audience's particular situation. If there is really only one process toaccomplish the goal, then e-Learning is a better format. The minor branching capabilities offeredin e-Learning software (such as menu path, keystroke, or toolbar button) are usually enough tocommunicate the process. Making this distinction has allowed us to choose the correct format foreach class, and allowed the incorporation of e-Learning to be seen as a supplement to instructor-led training, instead of as a competitive format.

Jennifer Thomas, Content Developer, Haynes & Boone LLP

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 11

Asking your group,“Did you readlast night's home-work?” usuallybrings on a longsilence. Try thisinstead: Give anadditional in-struction with thehomework, suchas, “We'll starttomorrow's classby having eachparticipant tellsomething to theclass that he orshe learned in thelesson.”

Jill Easterday,Consultant

III. Tips for Blending Synchronous Learning with Other Learning Modalities continued

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Higher Education eLearning Solution Brief

In a relatively short amount of time, eLearning has gained a permanent, highly visible place in the worldwide higher education community. A practice that a few years ago held only a niche role now is an indispensable element of many institutions’ curricula, success, and overall reputation. From working adult learners to full-time students living on and off campus to dedicated educators, individuals are increasingly taking advantage of synchronous eLearning opportunities such as virtual lectures and mentoring, as well as asynchronous eLearning offerings such as digital online courses, flexible content creation and distribution, and built-in assessment tools.

Adobe Systems is proud that its solutions played a major role in launching this eLearning revolution. Now, years later and still firmly at the forefront of eLearning technology, Adobe solutions enable higher education faculty and students to teach, learn, and collaborate anytime, anywhere—more effectively than ever. Whether participants are in a couple of locations, spread across campus, or dispersed worldwide, Adobe eLearning solutions put them in exactly the same learning environment, receiving the same instructional experience or training.

Adobe solutions put the most effective eLearning tools in your handsAdobe solutions enable higher education institutions to easily create and deploy engaging eLearning experiences that are easily accessible across campus, across a multi-campus institution, and beyond—within existing Learning Management Systems (LMS). Hassle-free access keeps the focus on the content, and not on technology. Here are key components:

• Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Pro 7, the cornerstone of Adobe eLearning solutions, offers an interface and interactive tools to help participants learn and retain the material that educators teach in virtual classes and self-paced courses. You can quickly design compelling courses with templates and a library of content, control learner participation, and track learner progress—so you can teach effectively in the virtual classroom and training environments while reaching your overall eLearning goals.

• Adobe Presenter 7 empowers faculty and students to rapidly create high-quality, on-demand presentations without special training.

• Adobe Captivate® 3 software enables faculty and students to rapidly create powerful and engaging simulations, software demonstrations, and scenario-based training without programming knowledge or multimedia skills.

Learn more about Adobe eLearning solutions for higher education at www.adobe.com/go/hed_elearning.

Adobe eLearning Solutions for Higher EducationDeliver engaging teaching and learning experiences to anyone, anytime, anywhere

Page 13: 144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning - The eLearning Guild

• Adobe Acrobat Professional software enables educators and students to reliably create, combine, share, and control media-rich Adobe PDF documents for easy, more secure communication, collaboration, and timesaving electronic workflows. Acrobat Professional lets you combine a wide range of content—including documents, drawings, e-mail, and spreadsheets—in a single PDF portfolio.

Create virtual classroom experiences that engage learnersVirtual classrooms are distributed learning environments that deliver media-rich content while removing geographic barriers. From working adult learners to full-time students living on campus, virtual classrooms expand opportunities without sacrificing engagement or course value. Virtual classrooms provide the opportunity to work on a degree without leaving current employment, and they help educators and students communicate, collaborate, and interact no matter where they are.

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro 7 allows educators to teach in real time, or deliver narrated presentations and courses that students can view on-demand. Either way, educators can capture and keep the attention of learners with engaging video, audio, and interactive multimedia course material that requires no additional downloads. And with Adobe Captivate 3, there’s no limit to the level of engagement in that material. Based on industry-leading Adobe Flash technology, Adobe Captivate automatically generates interactive, Adobe Flash Player-compatible content for quizzes and simulations that are easy to distribute and access online.

Further, Adobe eLearning solutions provide dynamic virtual classroom management tools that increase instructor efficiency:

• Breakout rooms allow expanded curriculum and more specific focus.

• Customizable layouts and persistent content reduce preparation time.

• Instructors can reuse and archive virtual classroom settings with editable online and offline recordings.

• For class assignments, and for out-of-class feedback on those assignments, Acrobat software delivers an electronic PDF workflow, complete with easy-to-use commenting tools.

For more information, visit www.adobe.com/go/hed_elearning

Using Adobe solutions, an instructor can provide formal online instruction and more informal “office hour” discussions with all participating students. With Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro 7, stu-dents can meet with an instructor in real time, reviewing media-rich content that the instructor can present on his or her desktop. All students need is a web connection.

Adobe eLearning Solutions for Higher Education

•AdobeAcrobatConnectPro7:Engage online audiences with highly interactive web meetings, multimedia virtual classroom experiences, and hands-on training sessions. Easily incorporate Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Flash® content.

•AdobePresenter7: Rapidly create Flash based presentations and eLearning material from Microsoft PowerPoint.

•AdobeCaptivate3: Create engaging eLearning content without programming or multimedia skills.

•AdobeAcrobatConnectProTraining: Create and deploy high-impact training material and interactive simulations, and track the effectiveness of coursework and training.

•AdobeAcrobatProfessional: Create, combine, distribute, and review media-rich PDF documents that support electronic workflows. Combine a wide range of content in a single PDF portfolio.

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Adobe solutions for the virtual classroom enable higher education institutions to offer more classes to more students. While eLearning has found a particularly loyal and growing audience among working adult learners, it is increasingly being selected by campus-based students as part of blended face-to-face/eLearning programs. From traditional campuses to technical institutions to completely online programs, higher education institutions and their educators can use Adobe eLearning solutions to create and maintain highly effective virtual classrooms.

Rapidly create and deliver engaging online training content Adobe rapid training solutions—powered by the amazing delivery and extension capabilities of Acrobat Connect Pro 7—empower higher education faculty to provide training where it’s needed, when it’s needed. Give users instant access via a web browser using ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player software. Quickly design courses that leverage existing PowerPoint content using Adobe Presenter 7 software, and create interactive simulations using Adobe Captivate 3 software. Manage courses using enrollment, automatic learner notifications, and custom report features.

This unique framework empowers higher education faculty to concentrate on creating and delivering highly effective content—without having to worry about intricate and burdensome code. Consider some of the advantages of Adobe rapid training solutions:

• Use familiar content-creation tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Flash to quickly and easily develop rich multimedia learning content in minutes, not months.

• Avoid having to develop new technical skills or depend on web professionals.

• Allow subject matter experts (SMEs) to easily and confidently capture their own content using Adobe Captivate, and create their own quizzes and courses using Adobe Presenter.

• Include interactive simulations and demonstrations created in Adobe Captivate.

• Create reusable and shareable content that is standards-based and interoperable.

• Deploy and track effectiveness of courses by using Acrobat Connect Pro Training.

From vocational training—to undergraduate and graduate courses—to professional development, Adobe rapid training solutions can put you in a rich, immersive eLearning environment that includes interactive simulations, streaming video, and scenario-based learning. The solutions make it easy to assess, track, and report progress and achievement within any LMS standard. It’s all there.

Put Adobe eLearning solutions to work for your institutionAdobe’s new eLearning solutions reflect its ongoing commitment to helping faculty, students, researchers, and administrators at higher education institutions.

Adobe virtual classroom solutions—highly effective alternatives to traditional teaching and learning methods—empower instructors to deliver richer, more interactive learning experiences to students in class, across campus, and throughout the world. Adobe rapid eLearning solutions empower higher education institutions of all kinds and sizes to provide faculty, students, and other learners with high-impact online learning that is instantly accessible.

To learn more about unlocking the potential of Adobe eLearning solutions at your institution, visit the Adobe higher education eLearning website at www.adobe.com/go/hed_elearning.

A

PROJECT

WEB CONFERENCE

Instructors with Learners

B Learners with Learners

Learners engage with one another to collabo-rate and share knowledge by asking questions, exchanging perspectives and experiences, and creatively expressing themselves.

C Learners with Content

A wide variety of multimedia, print, and communi-cation resources help educators share new ideas and information with all members of the learning community, no matter where they are located, whenever they need it most.

LESSON

LESSONLESSON

LESSON

VirtualCommunication

VirtualCommunication

Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional

Instructors share new ideas and information with learners, providing guidance and feedback on student performance.

Assignment Sent for Review

Student

Student

Instructor

ASSIGN.

Assignment Reviewed

Learner to Learner

Feedback

ASSIGN.

ASSIGN.

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During our virtual classrooms, we include links to guided practice simulations (previously creat-ed with Captivate) that are stored on a Web server. Each student has their own instance of thesimulation that provides them with a hands-on experience in a simulated and controlled environ-ment.

Janet Clifford, Instructional Designer, Kronos Educational Services

Respect the Learners' Time:This may seem obvious, but be sure the activity you have plannedfor a synchronous session has a purpose, and cannot be delivered as a free-standing (asynchro-nous) video. Do not deliver lectures using synchronous sessions — be sure that these sessionstake advantage of being LIVE with the learners. Do activities, have question and answer sessions,provide the learner the opportunity to contribute. Save the lectures for delivery in the onlinematerials for watching at the learner’s convenience. And — end the synchronous session ON TIME.

Theresa Murphrey, Faculty,Texas A&M University

In a college course setting, I highly recommend blending asynchronous content with a synchro-nous learning session. Used as either a pre- or post-learning support, items such as questionnairesand case studies provide an excellent basis for discussion. The discussion is the focus of a synchro-nous event. My students have commented on the value of the “moment,” whereby their class-mates contribute their on-the-spot feedback and thoughts. You don't want to take up the pre-cious hour or two that you have together with answering basic or logistic questions. Freeing upthat time for personal introductions, needs statements, and expectations creates a collegial envi-ronment in the synchronous session right from the start. The pre-readings for my course areessential to the quality of the discussions. I supplement the material with quick, interactive Flashpieces and quizzes. I like to follow up with a Wiki component, to continue the discussion andaddress logistic/clarification issues. From a participant’s perspective, this is more valuable becauseit removes the expectation that all your questions will be answered during the session, and les-sens the chance of feeling disappointment that the instructor/facilitator did not address all ofyour questions. By not including asynchronous elements, the learning, by default, becomes moreof a one-way information session. That is a valid experience, as long as it meets participant expec-tations and/or needs,This has been my experience facilitating at the college level with adultsranging from age 20 up to age 60.

Claudio Ierulli, Learning Solutions Developer, CIBC

Participants can play board games while taking synchronous learning classes for additionalinteraction. The instructor would display the board, and roll the dice when it's time to play. Theinstructor would ask a question, then display the correct answer. The players would move aroundthe board the number of spaces indicated by the instructor when they answer the question cor-rectly, or remain on a space if they answer incorrectly. Each participant should receive a paper-

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 15

Respect the Learn-ers' Time: Thismay seem obvi-ous, but be surethe activity youhave planned fora synchronoussession has a pur-pose, and cannotbe delivered as afree-standing(asynchronous)video.

Theresa Murphrey,Faculty, Texas A&M

University

III. Tips for Blending Synchronous Learning with Other Learning Modalities continued

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based, or soft-copy, game board. These are easy to create in MS PowerPoint, or other drawingtools. Each participant can use a coin, or other small object, to move along the board.When a par-ticipant makes it around the course, they can send a message to the instructor. Those participantsare the winners. Of course, the honesty system is used during this game.

Deborah Thomas, Founder and President, SillyMonkey LLC

IV. 49 Tips for Designers of SynchronousPresentations, Courses, and Webinars

You can't do too much advanced prep, which is most appropriate for drop-in tutorial sessions orinteractive dialogue-based sessions. Not only does a quick “patch-together” job show in the quali-ty of your presentation, but it can also be insulting to your audience. If you take the time to thinkthrough the different branches the presentation may take, depending on the needs of the audi-ence, you can be seen to have created a customized presentation that seamlessly allows you torespond to any question or alternative path they may like to take. By anticipating branches, youcan prepare materials that you may need in order to answer questions or demonstrate conceptsin different ways. You will be able to engage the audience by allowing the conversation to flownaturally. This technique works better each time you deliver, as you can't anticipate every varia-tion, but you can respond by preparing material for the next delivery. There is little added value toa learner spending time listening to a presentation live, if there is no engagement or opportunityto contribute to where the conversation goes. Presenters are often reluctant to deviate from theircanned presentation when they don't have the resources or visual presentation material to sup-port verbal answers.

Bryan Fair, Educational Technologist, British Columbia Institute of Technology

Keep in mind that attention spans for most Americans are very short. Learners expect sometype of break or change in activity after 10 to 12 minutes (this is learned behavior from havingcommercial breaks while watching TV). This is especially true when facilitating virtually in the cur-rent culture of multi-tasking. If you are not “pulling” information from your learners, chances areyour learners aren’t fully engaged. Get creative when pulling information from your learners.Encourage your learners to use the whiteboard feature, if available, for brainstorming activities.You can use polling and chat functionality to create informal virtual learning games.Whateveryou choose, keeping the learner constantly engaged is critical, since reading body language is nota luxury that virtual facilitators have.

Tony SanGiovanni, Senior Learning & Development Consultant, MetLife

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 16

Keep in mind thatattention spansfor most Ameri-cans are veryshort. Learnersexpect some typeof break or changein activity after10 to 12 minutes(this is learnedbehavior fromhaving commer-cial breaks whilewatching TV).

Tony SanGiovanni,Senior Learning &

Development Consultant,MetLife

III. Tips for Blending Synchronous Learning with Other Learning Modalities continued

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If designing content to be viewed on a projector (e.g. PowerPoint slides), try to adhere to the6x6 rule. No more than 6 bullets per page — no more than 6 words per line. Moreover, use appro-priate graphics to help make a point.

Dwayne Dush

One important basic tip for a designer or instructor is the instructional planning for the virtualclass. It is essential to know the features and resources available through the technology, and cre-ate an appropriate strategy to use these features according to the audience, and to the nature ofthe knowledge that will be delivered. You may do this basic planning easily and quickly using anExcel spreadsheet, where it is possible to relate learning goals to contents or features to be shownor used. It may also include an estimated duration (in minutes) for each topic, in order to create aview of the total length of the virtual class.

Luciano Gardesani Marques, Product Manager, MicroPower

Use a tight script, include thought-provoking leading questions, speak to the audience asthough you have eye contact, and solicit participation. Use a variety of communication mecha-nisms when conducting virtual synchronous training events, to engage participants in activitiesthat require teamwork, contribution of materials, etc.

Anonymous

In addition to following John Keller's ARCS model (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfac-tion), make your content FUN!! People become bored and disengaged in Webinars if you do nothave a strong opening. In one session in which I was sharing my desktop, I slipped in a slide thathad the image of the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death for you non-techies) near the beginning, toprove a point that when things go wrong, it is usually at the worst possible time. The harmlesspractical joke not only helped to get the audience's attention, but also “broke the ice,” which madethe remainder of the session much more interactive and therefore productive.

Tony SanGiovanni, Sr. Learning & Development Consultant, MetLife

If your synchronous event is not using live video, provide a small photo of each presenter. Thisadds a personal touch to the presentation, and provides the user with something more than acomputer screen to envision the speaker.

Patrick Hentschell, E-Learning Project Manager, FM Global

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 17

If your synchro-nous event is notusing live video,provide a smallphoto of eachpresenter. Thisadds a personaltouch to the pres-entation, andprovides the userwith somethingmore than a com-puter screen toenvision thespeaker.

Patrick Hentschell,E-Learning Project

Manager, FM Global

IV. Tips for Designers of Synchronous Presentations,Courses, and Webinars continued

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Follow up a Webinar event with refresher information, or activities that require the attendees torecall or apply what they have learned. Design Webinars to be short, not much more than 45 min-utes.

Patrick Hentschell, E-Learning Project Manager, FM Global

To improve learning through a synchronous class, it is critical to create and promote a highly col-laborative environment. This task belongs to the instructor, but also is based on the learning strat-egy adopted before, while planning and building the agenda for the class. A low-collaborativeclass does not bring significant learning results. The more collaborative the class, the better yourresults will be. The audience must be part of the class, and must be called upon often by theinstructor to answer questions, bring up examples or share experiences, perform some activity,etc. An efficient virtual class must be different from watching TV or going to the movies. The par-ticipants (students) must feel that they may be called upon anytime to do something, and so pay-ing attention is critical. That's why it is also very important to work with groups of no more than 15to 20 students per class. Large groups usually are more difficult to create a high-collaborationenvironment in.

Luciano Gardesani Marques, Product Manager — MicroPower Presence, MicroPower

Make sure to send an email invitation to the e-Learning event. Your email invitation shouldinclude:

• Objectives for the course (or what will be covered),• Any Passwords to access the event,• Call-in numbers for the event (if audio is not VoIP) ,• Info on how soon before the event people can access the event (i.e., 15 minutes early, etc.) , and• A link to the event’s login screen.

Deborah Nugent, Learning Consultant, Fidelity Investments

Live video broadcast is secondary, unless your audience has a broadband Internet connectionfast enough to support high-quality transmission. Experience with customers shows that livevideo may be important during the beginning of the virtual class for a social approach, but afterthat what really matters is the capacity of the instructor to create a dynamic and highly-collabora-tive environment. Some technical training normally demands video to explain how to assembleequipment, for example. Today it is very simple to record a video, instead of broadcasting it livethrough the Internet. Another good option is Flash. A Flash simulation is more useful because it ispossible to simulate, and not just show how to do something. This interaction improves learningresults.

Luciano Gardesani Marques, Product Manager — MicroPower Presence, MicroPower

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 18

Follow up a Webi-nar event withrefresher informa-tion, or activitiesthat require theattendees torecall or applywhat they havelearned. DesignWebinars to beshort, not muchmore than 45minutes.

Patrick Hentschell,E-Learning Project

Manager, FM Global

IV. Tips for Designers of Synchronous Presentations,Courses, and Webinars continued

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Make the content as engaging as possible with motion, graphics, quizzes, puzzles, or anythingto break it up. Only include critical information — stuff that they will need and use on the job.

Patty Skerl, Senior Talent Development Specialist, AmTrust Bank

Designing for synchronous presentations is no different than designing any other type of learn-ing. It starts with solid instructional design: Audience analysis, clear learning objectives, and agood structure. Don't limit yourself to lecturing with slides; look for creative ways to get yourmaterial across. Make sure there is lots of opportunity for engagement. Ask your learners to dosomething every three minutes, even if it's something as simple as answering a Yes or No ques-tion. Challenge them! Learn to use ALL the tools in your synchronous package, and then actuallyUSE THEM!

Julie Biddle,Training Specialist, Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing

Invite a guest or co-host to help present key points. During the training, make it more of a dis-cussion rather then a one-way conversation. Have the guest share a story, or interrupt you at anytime with questions or comments. Feel free to go off the script, to answer questions for those top-ics that you were planning on addressing later. This interaction will engage the listeners, andmake them feel like they too are part of the conversation.

Rory Frey, Consultant Technical Training,The Hartford

Find a way to place all class materials that the learner will need in one place. This way, the learn-er can go download it all, prior to class, instead of the facilitator needing to email it to them.

Carol Huhn, Nuance Communications

Keep in mind that, with a little creativity, you can convert almost all classroom exercises to asynchronous on-line format. For example, groups can work on a section of a whiteboard, whilethey chat with each other, or they can go to a breakout room (if your software has that functional-ity). Don't eliminate exercises just because you are online, in fact, those exercises are more impor-tant to keep people involved!

Anne Harper

Practice, practice, practice before going live. Also, a great idea to have a second computer up andrunning so you can “see” what the participants see, and make sure that all is functioning well.

Paula Colwell, Learning Specialist, Canada School of Public Service

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 19

Find a way toplace all classmaterials thatthe learner willneed in one place.This way, thelearner can godownload it all,prior to class,instead of thefacilitator need-ing to email itto them.

Carol Huhn, NuanceCommunications

IV. Tips for Designers of Synchronous Presentations,Courses, and Webinars continued

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Success Story

Grundfos Management A/SLeading manufacturer streamlines training and delivers compelling eLearning courses to customers and employees worldwide using Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro

GrundfosManagementA/S

www.grundfos.com

InPartnershipWith

ZaqONE

www.zaqsolutions.dk

Industry

Manufacturing

Challenges

• Accelerate production of training materials

• Reduce costs to deliver training to staff, partners, and customers worldwide

• Minimize need for IT to support eLearning courses

Solution

• eLearning

Grundfos is using Acrobat Connect to deliver engaging training courses to staff, partners, and customers worldwide.

Results

• Enhance quality and accessibility of training courses delivered worldwide

• Help ensure that staff, partners, and customers have continued access to timely product information

• Reduce time and costs to produce and deliver training content

• Minimize demand on valuable IT resources needed to support training initiatives

SystemsAtAGlance

• Acrobat Connect Pro

• Adobe Presenter

TrainingcustomersandstaffworldwideGrundfos is the world’s largest manufacturer of circulation pumps. The company has offices in 58 countries and currently employs approximately 14,000 staff, with roughly a third employed in Denmark. With its large employee base and complex products, Grundfos has its own training academy that today is being supplemented with Acrobat Connect Pro software.

eLearning is crucial for Grundfos to meet the challenges of the future and to reinforce its position as the leading company in the pump industry. Both employees and customers can be educated with the help of Acrobat Connect Pro.

For Grundfos, a commitment to staff training helps ensure the company can maintain and develop its position in the world market. This is the reason why Grundfos established its training academy—the Poul Due Jensen Academy—with associated hotel facilities at its headquarters. The academy is an independent division of Grundfos Management and is managed by Kim Hansen, the director of the academy.

Be-Think-InnovateThe overall objective of the academy is to ensure the best education for employees. For example, sales managers should understand as much about sales and marketing as they do about product features. Also, instead of just responding to customer inquiries, the sales staff should be proactive in its relationships with existing and potential customers, serving as problem solvers and reliable partners that can deliver customized solutions. This requires highly specialized knowledge that can only be acquired through excellent training.

“Be-Think-Innovate” is the slogan that Grundfos employs to put the company’s values into words. Being willing to change, to assume responsibility, and being innovative are crucial for meeting the challenges of the future. One initiative that was developed in this spirit is using eLearning to attain even closer contact with the company’s customers. For instance, dealers and wholesalers make decisions every day as to which pump they will recommend for a project. Specific product knowledge builds confidence with the customer. Therefore, Grundfos wants to offer product training via eLearning to ensure that customers can choose the right Grundfos pump.

LeveragingthereachofthewebSenior eLearning Project Manager Ole Kristensen is tasked with developing training methods that utilize the Internet for updating the knowledge of Grundfos employees. With eLearning, the time and costs for training employees are reduced compared to traditional training methods. At the same time, eLearning can happen at each employee’s location.

For Grundfos, eLearning is not an alternative to traditional courses, but instead supplements courses as part of a blended-learning process that combines day courses and eLearning. “eLearning and day

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courses are part of our module-based training system,” explains Kristensen. “It gives participants the opportunity for better preparation and offers flexibility as the eLearning modules can fit into people’s busy lives. We have also established a system to handle customer training.”

AdoptingAdobePresenterGrundfos uses Adobe Presenter and Microsoft PowerPoint to create eLearning content. Because Adobe Presenter and PowerPoint are integrated, anyone who can use PowerPoint can create eLearning presentations with animations and built-in tests. An Adobe Presenter presentation can also be used to create short training exercises or product presentations that conclude with a few questions that test whether the participant has understood the content.

Another advantage of using Adobe Presenter is that the presentation is delivered in the Adobe Flash® format. This means that all PCs can run the presentation without the need to install extra software. As a result, Grundfos does not need to devote a lot of time to providing support. “By using Acrobat Connect Pro and Adobe Flash, we are confident that people can participate in trainings without problems,” says Kristensen. “Users only have to click with the mouse to run the presentation. At the same time, the minimal bandwidth required for the Flash based trainings is amazing. We can even reliably train people who have low-bandwidth connections in remote areas worldwide via Adobe Presenter.”

RapidtrainingandqualitymeetingsWith Acrobat Connect Pro, Grundfos can quickly produce learning material. Traditionally, production of eLearning material has been expensive and time-consuming. “With Acrobat Connect Pro, we can rapidly create and assemble a complete training presentation in less than three hours—previously it could take three weeks just for the planning and storyboard,” explains Kristensen. “We can now train our staff worldwide on a given topic within 24 hours. This is truly rapid learning,” adds Hansen, “Thanks to Acrobat Connect Pro, we can train our employees worldwide faster and more cost effectively than ever.”

Grundfos runs Acrobat Connect Pro on an internal server. Authorized employees have an area in which they can see which courses they should take, and also view the results of courses they have completed. It was important for Grundfos that Acrobat Connect Pro can handle user data from its internal directory server. This means that users do not have to be set up separately on the Acrobat Connect Pro server. The Adobe software has built-in LDAP integration and automatically accesses all user data from the Grundfos directory database. In this way, it is possible to maintain users from one location, and as many as 6,000 users can be set up in less than hour.

With the help of Acrobat Connect Pro staff at Grundfos can rapidly create and assemble a complete training presentation in less than three hours—a task that previously could take three weeks just for the planning and storyboard. Grundfos employees and customers worldwide can now be trained on a given topic within 24 hours.

“ThankstoAcrobatConnect,wecantrainouremployeesworldwidefasterandmorecosteffectivelythanever.”Kim Hansen, Academy director, Grundfos

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“ByusingAcrobat ConnectandAdobeFlash,weareconfidentthatpeoplecanparticipateintrainingswithoutproblems.”Ole Kristensen, Senior eLearning project manager, Grundfos

ForMoreInformation

www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro

AdobeSystemsIncorporated345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95110-2704 USA www.adobe.com

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat Connect, and Flash are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

© 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

95009205 06/07 R

With a hosted Acrobat Connect Pro module for training, Grundfos offers training to customers and partners. The Adobe solution monitors who has gone through the training presentation and uses short tests to measure whether the messages have been understood. With Acrobat Connect Pro, the company can quickly update customers with the latest product information. “Acrobat Connect Pro enables us to deliver timely product training to our distributors and wholesalers, so they can always recommend the right pump for a project,” says Hansen. “We’d like to train 10,000 customers using the Adobe software, which would give a real upswing in pump sales.”

Grundfos also uses a hosted version of Acrobat Connect Pro for meetings to organize eMeetings. The Adobe meetings do not require an AV room, and can be carried out from an individual’s workspace over the Internet (IP). It requires just a web camera and a microphone. Through live meetings, the course participants have the opportunity to take part actively in training programs, asking questions and sharing their knowledge with the other participants. In addition to live course meetings, Grundfos uses Acrobat Connect Pro for normal business meetings.

AcompletelearningsolutionAt Grundfos, eLearning is an important part of the company’s training strategy. Acrobat Connect Pro provides the opportunity to manage the entire eLearning flow, from production and design of learning content that includes integrated tests through to following up and monitoring activities. Grundfos can see the test results of individual users and assess whether eLearning is working. Everything is controlled from the Acrobat Connect Pro server.

The Adobe software also offers the possibility for live training via the Internet. The software is so user-friendly that production of the training process is assigned to the individual departments. In this way, eLearning can gain acceptance as a natural tool for knowledge dissemination and competence development at Grundfos.

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Translate classroom training cues (too fast or slow, the first of five, what do we need to reviewnext?) to a format that can let participants engage in defining the value and driving the presenta-tion. Over larger groups, you can do this effectively with polling tools. This requires pre-planning,to build an arsenal of well-thought-out questions to pull at time of need during the presentation.Consider feedback, to refine the content during the live presentation in order to optimize partici-pants’ value.

David Glow, Chief Learning Architect, Glow Development

The first thing to keep in mind while you decide to make something for synchronous presenta-tions:The presentation should supplement the presenter — not the other way around. Ask your-self a simple question: If I were to email this presentation to a participant, will she be able toderive value from it by going through it? If the answer is yes, it has two clear indications. First, youraudience will also realize it after the first few slides, and the moment they find out, or are assuredthat it will be made available to download or mailed to them, they will drop off your online meet-ing. Second, you might want to consider recording your voice-over, and use it as a canned audio-visual, rather than a synchronous event.

Uday Kranti, Sr. Consultant

Create a text file, or unformatted word processing document, with sentences or phrases you useor will use in your presentation. Have the file open while in session, and when the situation arises,cut and paste your text onto a whiteboard, or in the chat feature of your application. This will savetime, and is very helpful when troubleshooting common issues. For example when troubleshoot-ing a sound issue you could cut and paste the sentence, ”Be sure your headphone and micro-phone cords are fully plugged in, and neither is set to mute.” Or, when posing a question to partici-pants, you could have phrases such as,“That is an interesting point. Could you expand further?” or,“What do you see as the challenges with that course of action?” As you develop and present moreoften, you will probably add to this document. If you teach more than one course, think about cre-ating separate documents specific to each course.

Floyd Wheeler, Learning Strategist, Booz Allen Hamilton

Effective learning involves participation. Avoid using synchronous e-Learning tools to simply“broadcast” from the instructor or teacher. An effective synchronous session may build on severalhours of asynchronous preparation, and provide the stimulus for several hours of follow-up. Youshould broadcast material that is more suited to broadcast. Use the asynchronous environmentsto distribute information prior to the session (e.g.,Web documents to read, videos to watch,slideshows to view, Podcasts to listen to, etc.), and use the valuable time of the synchronous ses-sion to discuss, debate, and clarify the material, and to develop the understandings that arerequired. This applies equally to students. Synchronous sessions provide a great way for studentsto present “tutorials” of their work or assignments at the end of a course. Avoid making this a

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 23

Make the contentas engaging aspossible withmotion, graphics,quizzes, puzzles,or anything tobreak it up. Onlyinclude criticalinformation —stuff that theywill need and use on the job.

Patty Skerl,Senior Talent

Development Specialist,AmTrust Bank

IV. Tips for Designers of Synchronous Presentations,Courses, and Webinars continued

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time where others have to sit and listen to them present (as often happens in a face-to-face class-room). Instead, require them to upload their presentations, prior to the synchronous session, forother students to read, watch, or listen to. Then use the synchronous session to interrogate, andseek the deeper understandings that may emerge.

Derek Wenmoth, Director, e-Learning , CORE Education

Plan for a back-chat channel. Student participation is a frequently-cited reason for using syn-chronous tools. However many instances of online education resemble a typical classroom, wherethe students are simply listening to a broadcast from the teacher, with an occasional opportunityto respond to a teacher-directed question. An effective way of enabling student participation is toensure there is a back-chat channel open for use.Within synchronous tools like Elluminate, this isa standard feature. Alternatively, you can use the “Public Chat” feature of Skype, to allow all partic-ipants to communicate by chat during the session. An astute presenter will be monitoring theback-chat feed, using the comments and questions to “steer” the presentation, and inviting partic-ipation from specific students.

Derek Wenmoth, Director, e-Learning , CORE Education

It is not possible to plan “too much” for a synchronous event. In our organization, we develop atraining plan for the learning objectives, a technical plan for the Webcast logistics, and an interac-tivity plan to accommodate non-standard Webcast techniques.We conduct a technology orienta-tion for each new presenter.We conduct a technical rehearsal for Webcasts of more than 100 invi-tees.

James Lloyd,Training Developer, Promega Corporation

Include an activity that early-arriving students can do while waiting for class to begin. If theactivity includes using the whiteboard markup tools, the students can get comfortable with themin a fun, non-threatening way. This type of activity also helps get them participating from thestart.

Carol Huhn, Nuance Communications

Use pictures: We don't use video streaming, so for any Web- or Internet-based session, I try toprovide an image of all the presenters at the beginning of the class, the specific presenter for eachsession, and all the presenters again at the end of the class. If I have a net-class, I try to provide a“class picture” of everyone at the beginning of the session by creating a slide, in advance, whichhas a company picture of everyone in attendance. This gives the virtual class more of a network-ing feel, like what they often get in a traditional classroom.

Dwayne Dush

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Include an activi-ty that early-arriving studentscan do whilewaiting for classto begin. If theactivity includesusing the white-board markuptools, the stu-dents can getcomfortable withthem in a fun,non-threateningway.

Carol Huhn, NuanceCommunications

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Design exercises and class activities that utilize the tools you have available in your e-Learningapplication. Chat, and the text tools on the whiteboard, are both great ways to get answers andbrainstorm. This works for technical training also, but you may need to get more creative.

Carol Huhn, Nuance Communications

Consider whether you really need a camera. A camera can be a source of technical difficulties,distraction, and bandwidth problems. It does help create a rapport with people you have not pre-viously met. Consider turning it off after the introduction. In a continuous series of Webcasts, per-haps you don’t need it after the first one.

Brian Mulligan, Open Learning Coordinator, Institute of Technology, Sligo

We use WebEx as our communications medium, and have found that one of the best methodsof reinforcement is have each learner participate in the learning by demonstrating the learningobjective that we just covered. All of our training is technical training on our proprietary softwarefor our customer base.When we deliver synchronous Web-based training, we use PowerPointslides to show concepts, but we use the actual software to show the learners how to accomplishtheir business processes. For example, if our learning objectives are to show how to create a sav-ings benefit, and apply it to a group of employees, we first explain the whys, whats, whens, andhows of the process to the learners, and then use the software to show the process.With thatcomplete, we ask the learners what questions they have about the process, and answer thosequestions. Next, we will show the learners a slide with a new requirement on it, such as a newbenefit that our sample company needs to create, and the employee group to which the benefitwill apply.We discuss the needs, requirements, and process flow required to accomplish this task.Then we select a learner to complete creating the benefit, turn complete control of the environ-ment over to the student, and allow him or her to complete the task in a risk-free environment. Asthe student completes the task, we ask what considerations led them to make the selections thatthey did.When the task of creating of the benefit is complete, we then select another learner toapply the benefit and give control of the environment to that learner. After meeting all the re-quirements, we discuss the process again with all the learners in the session. This type of directinvolvement, and hands-on learning, has proven to be very effective with our learner community,as it enables them to see, hear, and do in the single session, and that enhances retention and per-formance.

David B. Dubin, Senior Curriculum Developer, Sage Software, Inc.

A short live-video introduction by the presenter helps to reduce some of the “virtual” feeling forthe participants in a virtual classroom environment. The intro takes only a few seconds, and theaddition of a live visual element stimulates interest and promotes participation by the group. Itisn't necessary to continue providing video, because those initial few seconds will create a long-

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 25

Consider whetheryou really need acamera. A cameracan be a source oftechnical difficul-ties, distraction,and bandwidthproblems. It doeshelp create a rap-port with peopleyou have not pre-viously met.Consider turningit off after theintroduction.

Brian Mulligan,Open Learning

Coordinator, Institute of Technology, Sligo

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lasting image that will be retained and recalled after the presenter shifts to audio-only mode.

Roy Coleman,Trainer, Gap Inc. Direct

The more time you spend on the front end of your program, the less work you will have to putinto organizing and reorganizing the information. Storyboards are a great tool to cut down ondevelopment — make them as detailed as possible, and you will see your program grow as you goalong.

Sarah Beth Larson, Instructional Designer, Lifeblood/MSRBC

Often, when discussing synchronous programs that require multiple sessions, there is little con-sideration given to the offline instruction that has to take place. This requires an asynchronous,Web 2.0-like tool to foster communication from the facilitator, access to the course materials, andlearning and collaboration with one another. Typically, in the best practice discussions I encounteron the Internet, no one addresses these vital elements. Moreover (and assuming your companyhas the infrastructure to support this), this particular element requires thoughtful planning inlook and appeal to drive traffic to a space that will inevitably enhance the learning experience.This also impresses upon the designer the need to think very differently about design. At the veryleast, it requires the designer to work very closely with Web developers to harness their knowl-edge and employ another technology to aid the learning experience. On the other hand, it mayeven require the designer to familiarize him or herself with the tools to employ a Web 2.0 solu-tion. Neither of these requirements have necessarily been part of the job description, but they arebecoming increasingly unavoidable. In summary, as synchronous deliverables become moreprominent, they will require designers to become more and more familiar with technology that,to this point, has been under the domain of the technologist. I believe that the lines delineatingdesigners, facilitators, and e-Learning experts are becoming more blurred, as a result of the stridesmade in Web-conferencing platforms, and the Internet in general.

Walter Crawford, Facilitator, Fidelity Investments

Time-Saving Tip: Design and develop a Flash movie, an Articulate Presenter-convertedPowerPoint, or other possible self-playing solution that presents Webinar etiquette, and otherimportant information pertinent to the Webinar. Ask participants to log in 10 to 15 minutes early,to watch this movie before the session starts. By asking participants to login early and watch themovie, you do not have to dedicate so much time to these issues once the sessions starts. This alsoallows time to deal with any technical issues. For example, if you need sound or audio for the ses-sion, the movie can provide instructions on how to adjust the settings on the computer. You canadd screen shots in a Captivate presentation to the Flash or Presenter movie to facilitate this issue.

Jayne Rogers, Senior Learning Specialist, CIGNA Healthcare Corporation

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 26

Time-Saving Tip:Design and devel-op a Flash movie,an ArticulatePresenter-convert-ed PowerPoint,or other possibleself-playing solu-tion that presentsWebinar etiquette,and other impor-tant informationpertinent to theWebinar. Ask par-ticipants to log in10 to 15 minutesearly, to watchthis movie beforethe session starts.

Jayne Rogers,Senior Learning Specialist,

CIGNA HealthcareCorporation

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In Ontario, big numbers are the norm. As Canada’s largest province, Ontario’s population exceeds 12 million and is spread out over

an area larger than France and Spain combined. Ontario’s far-reaching publicly funded education system is administered by the Ministry of Education, which relates to 72 different school boards as well as many school authorities serving over two million students in more than 5,000 different elementary and secondary schools. There are also more than 115,000 teachers.

The sheer size and scope of Ontario’s public education system poses a unique set of challenges, particularly when it comes to using technology to help sustain a vibrant, publicly funded program. After conducting an extensive review process, the Ministry’s software acquisition advisory committee recommended that all 72 school boards, 12 faculties of education, and 6 other public educational entities be empowered with Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional to foster Internet-based learning and online meetings.

Lesson in achievementOntario selects Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Professional to enhance public education for more than two million Canadian students

Success Story

Ontario Ministry of Education

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With its noted ease of use and readily customizable interface, the Adobe solution is intended to help carry out the Ministry’s three-pronged mission: support high levels of student achievement, reduce gaps in student achievement, and build strong public confidence in the publicly funded education system.

Engaging 21st century learners From daytime classroom experiences to evening online discussions, Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional can enhance the interactive educational process for millions of students and teachers across Ontario. In every aspect of teaching and learning, the use of Adobe technology has the potential to change Canada’s diverse educational landscape.

During the day, district eLearning contact and special assignment teacher, Karen Kasik— a computer science, engineering, and math teacher who has worked at Hill Park Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario—uses Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional to blend web-based learning into the daily classroom

Schools that are part of the Ontario public education system are using Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional to blend web-based learning into the daily classroom experience and to participate in a variety of collaborative projects. Two elementary schools located about 400 miles apart recently did a book study together, enabling students to interact across the province to share ideas and resources.

“Quickly, the technology becomes invisible and the kids go right to the reality-based interactivity. We couldn’t offer this type of learning before. Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional is great.”Shawn Allenby, regional eLearning contact, Ottawa Carleton District School Board

their First Class system and continued in the evenings twice a week using Acrobat Connect Professional. Each student had a role—from prosecutor to judge to juror. “The teacher held trials online, did jury selection, and everything related to the real collaborative experience,” says Kasik. “The class had a 100% completion rate.”

Outside speakers who previously had to travel great distances to Ontario schools are now virtually visiting classrooms throughout the province, adding otherwise unattainable resources to enrich learning experiences. In the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, which consists of 157 schools, regional eLearning contact Shawn Allenby reports that by using Acrobat Connect Professional, schools have hosted guest speakers to participate in live, interactive presentations via digital video to thousands of students across the district. Speakers included an author from Chicago, a noted Canadian illustrator, and famed national hero Craig Kielburger, founder of Free the Children. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, the value of web conferencing is priceless. It is an incredibly empowering experience for everyone,” says Allenby.

Schools throughout the district are using their Acrobat Connect Professional licenses to participate in a variety of collaborative projects. Two elementary schools located about 400 miles apart recently did a book study together, enabling students to interact across the province to share ideas and resources. As well, Acrobat Connect Professional was used to

“follow” an expedition down the east coast of Africa. “Quickly, the technology becomes

experience across the curriculum. “Using Acrobat Connect Professional, we can teach in two classrooms at the same time and double the number of students we reach,” says Kasik. Recently, a biology teacher presented an Internet video demonstration, which the students rated

“great”. Participants in both rooms used the live chat feature in Acrobat Connect Professional to ask questions—melding two physical classrooms into one collaborative, eLearning center. “There’s so much more we can do,” says Kasik. “We use all of the available technology in our school to teach some of our larger classes which provides a wonderful collaboration for the entire class. And recording the sessions for those students who are away or need review is an added bonus.”

For example, online classes build bridges among remotely located schools, which is important because all schools are required to follow the same curriculum. Students from schools throughout the Hamilton-Wentworth district recently participated in an online law class that was held during the school day in

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invisible and the kids go right to the reality-based interactivity. We couldn’t offer this type of learning before,” says Allenby. “Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional is great.”

Benefits beyond the classroomWhile Acrobat Connect Professional is adding new dimensions to learning inside the classroom, it is also extending benefits to students away from the school in a variety of scenarios. For example, students who are in the hospital or at home for extended care can remain part of the school experience to keep up with lessons and stay abreast socially by interacting with classmates during the day and with teachers in the evenings.

According to teacher Karen Kasik, some students simply need extra attention. “Students can access me at night in Acrobat Connect Professional sessions,” she says. “Often, when kids get home, they forget information from that day. Acrobat Connect Professional gives them the opportunity to ask questions and complete the learning cycle. It’s a great motivational tool that makes a huge difference to some kids.”

Often, teachers open up an Acrobat Connect Professional session the night before a test to answer questions. Kasik notes that it is the freedom for students to access teachers so easily that is incredibly effective.

Focus on professional development Previously, regional trainers would have to travel to visit schools throughout the district to discuss integrating technology into the curriculum. Now, Acrobat Connect Professional sessions at

district, regional, and local levels are being held to impart eLearning expertise to teachers, staff, and administrators. From standard orientation meetings to instructional development to remedial learning, Acrobat Connect Professional is helping infuse the educational population with new ways to learn and further develop their skills.

At the provincial level, 500 math teachers and technology leaders recently gathered to attend a mathematics education conference that focused on Connecting Research and Practice in Mathematics Education. A breakout session introduced participants to Adobe Connect Professional and how it might be used for professional development at a distance. One example used was the small professional learning community in Ontario that was using Acrobat Connect Professional to meet and learn about The Geometer’s Sketchpad. Other session topics included white boarding in Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional for teaching algebra and geometry, and authoring learning objects in Adobe Flash® and Adobe Acrobat Professional.

“Our Connecting Research and Practice in Mathematics Education breakout session showcased teacher collaboration with Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional. Since that time, we have been involved in creating learning objects, called CLIPS, using Adobe Flash CS3 Professional, which is also licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Education for schools,” says Ross Isenegger, information technology and numeracy coordinator in the Near North District School board.

OrganizationOntario Ministry of EducationProvince of Ontario, Canadawww.edu.gov.on.ca

Challenges• Standardize on a single, easy-to-

use, collaborative web meeting platform

• Provide teachers with intuitive tools for authoring learning objects

• Keep web conferencing costs low

• Reach high levels of student achievement

• Reduce gaps in student achievement

• Build strong public confidence in the public education system

SolutionUse Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional to implement a cost-effective, web meeting platform to foster collaboration and extend resources beyond campus boundaries

Benefits• Engaged students in intuitive,

collaborative learning solutions

• Reduced failure rate in virtual learning centers and classrooms

• Gained access to outside speakers and reality-based learning experiences

• Created online and blended learning models using technology across curriculum

• Increased teacher job satisfaction with exciting professional development

• Provided students with access to teachers after school for test prep, discussion groups, and remedial lessons

Toolkit• Adobe Acrobat Connect

Professional

• Adobe Captivate™

• Adobe Flash

• Adobe Acrobat Professional

• Adobe Presenter

• Platform: Mac and PC computers using Microsoft® Windows® XP and Mac OS

For More Informationwww.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/www.adobe.com/education

Before implementing use of Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, regional trainers would have to travel to visit schools throughout districts to discuss integrating technology into the curriculum. Now, Acrobat Connect Professional sessions at district, regional, and local levels are being held to impart eLearning expertise to teachers, staff, and administrators. From standard orientation meetings to instructional development to remedial learning, Acrobat Connect Professional is helping infuse the educational population with new ways to learn and further develop their skills.

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Acrobat Connect Professional is also extending benefits to students outside the classroom. For example, students in the hospital or at home for extended care can remain part of the school experience—keeping up with lessons and staying abreast socially with classmates. In addition, some school boards operate virtual learning centers for adult learners, the business community, and home schoolers.

Success at virtual learning centersIn addition to elementary and secondary schools, some school boards operate a series of virtual learning centers to serve the needs of adult learners, the business community, and home schoolers. Students from all over the world attend virtual classes with connection bandwidths ranging from dial-up to high speed.

“It’s been a struggle to get interactive content online using other expensive video conferencing technology,” says Peter Harris, course instructor at The Virtual Learning Centre in the Trillium Lakelands District School Board. Previously, the program was a basic e-mail correspondence course with students completing weekly assignments and teachers marking them up.

“Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional puts me into the 21st century virtual classroom,” he says.

“I feel like a teacher again. The response from students has been phenomenal.”

“Once you use Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, there’s no turning back. It’s just a matter of where and when.”Peter Harris, course instructor, The Virtual Learning Centre, Trillium Lakelands District School Board

Adobe Systems Incorporated 345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95110-2704 USA www.adobe.com

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Acrobat Connect, Adobe Captivate, and Flash are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Mac and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

© 2008 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

95010531 04/08 A

Since implementing Acrobat Connect Professional, the failure rate at The Virtual Learning Centre has dropped significantly for those who attend regularly—commensurate with in-class rates. “Compared to where we were five years ago, the model is drastically different. Now we provide students with tremendous flexibility and the opportunity to complete courses anytime, anywhere.”

To further enhance the virtual learning experience, Harris is using Adobe Presenter to incorporate interactive Adobe Flash content into the online curriculum and to decrease the need to repeatedly relay information to individual students. As well, students are using Adobe Presenter for peer tutoring and independent study presentations. “I impart upon the students the importance of good communication skills and knowledge sharing. The simplicity of Adobe Presenter enables students to convert their PowerPoint presentations to Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional presentations with little teacher involvement,” says Harris.

Throughout Ontario, teachers are exploring new ways to impact the 21st century learner. “Once you use Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, there’s no turning back,” says Harris. “It’s just a matter of where and when.”

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Plan to take time to teach the presentation tool. Yes, it is easy, but not necessarily as intuitive asexperienced users might think. Instructions and tips to use the presentation tool make great pre-work assignments.

Jane Stackhouse, Senior Trainer

Design for interaction, collaboration, and contribution:• Keep the content visually engaging, but not too busy. Builds in Microsoft PowerPoint are fan-

tastic for providing dynamic content. No flashing graphics or tacky effects — just use simplebuilds to emphasize what you are discussing. This is especially useful for illustrating steps in aprocess, or segments of a program or project.

• At the beginning of the session, schedule up to 10 minutes of “play time,” to let participantstry out collaboration and annotation tools. Make sure they have plenty of time to get comfort-able with the tool, so that participation is easy. Direct facilitators to invite participants to usethese tools as needed, to communicate appropriately.

• Use a whiteboard or blank PowerPoint slide to brainstorm ideas on a topic, rather than pre-senting them with bulleted lists. Allow participants to type directly in the space, if possible, orscribe their inputs. Do not summarize. Use the participants' exact words.

• Design in opportunities to use feedback mechanisms to get yes/no, agree/disagree, andlike/dislike reactions from participants. Direct your facilitators to respond to the feedback, andpace the content accordingly.

• Use appropriate, consistent, teachable images, rather than bulleted lists. Ask participants topoint out what is wrong or right with the graphic or photo. Allow participants to use line-drawing tools to match vocabulary terms to items in the photo or graphic.

• Use polling, when appropriate, to vote for an option, give opinions, or test knowledge. If apolling feature is not available, use the colors in feedback status squares, or place a specifiedannotation (check mark, text “x,” etc.) over an image representing the choice.

Tracy Ross, Instructional Designer, Intel Corporation

Web conferences should use two or more voices (a presenter and a facilitator) to offer moreinterest and vary the intonations. Facilitators (apart from monitoring chat box comments) caninterject concepts based on the presentation, that participants may want to ask but don't neces-sarily do so. They can act as a “devil’s advocate” to repeat the concept being discussed (learningstickiness), and put a concept into several practical situations.

Joyce, Instructional Designer/Online Learning Specialist, Pal-Tech, Inc.

Use ustream.tv for the traditional classroom: If you are teaching a traditional classroom, youcould set up the Webcam and broadcast your traditional lectures. All of your students could begiven your Web address (which does not change), and could log in and watch the class from a dis-

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Plan to take timeto teach the pres-entation tool. Yes,it is easy, but notnecessarily as in-tuitive as experi-enced users mightthink. Instructionsand tips to usethe presentationtool make greatpre-work assign-ments.

Jane Stackhouse, SeniorTrainer

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tance if they are not able to attend the traditional class. This way each student could still log in,and get the material if s/he is sick. S/he could also participate with the class by using the chat fea-ture. Again, you can record the lessons, giving students the ability to watch your lectures again toreview something they did not quite understand, or to review for exams.

Kelly Kirk, Distance Education Program Director, Davidson County Community College

I recently had another Webcast experience as a presenter. I have done them before (both as apresenter and a participant), but it has been a little while since I have presented during a Webcast... and I had forgotten how much I rely on the visual cues of the audience. People nodding, takingnotes, talking to a neighbor, or even glaring at me with arms crossed across their bodies. Thosecues give me data that encourages me, informs me, and often redirects me. My other challenge,one commonly expressed by people working in synchronous technology-mediated environments,is that I wanted to deliver a smooth presentation while at the same time attend to the high vol-ume of text-based comments and questions from the audience. I was simply unable to track it all.In fact, there was one point where I completely lost track of where I was in the presentation,which is something that never happens to me in a face-to-face setting. Although challenging, Iam not going to give up on Webcasts. The online audience has a craving for synchronous connec-tion, so I want to participate in more Webcasts, and add more Webcasts to my online courses.However, I do have to deal with these two issues: (1) my reliance on visual cues from the audience,and (2) attending to audience comments and questions. The second issue is much easier to dealwith. I have had great luck with asking a colleague to step in and act as moderator. The moderatorcan completely focus on the text traffic, and make sure that I address questions and respond tocomments. In terms of the first issue, I have come up with two angles to pursue: Setting groundrules, and structuring the presentation to support time for frequent interaction.

Setting ground rules:• Demonstrate how participants can engage in side conversations using the “private” feature so

that they do not distract the entire audience (or presenter), reserving the “chat” feature for on-topic questions and comments.

• Ask the audience to hold questions and comments until designated times throughout theWebcast.

• If there is a moderator, explain to the audience that the moderator will track comments andquestions, categorize them into themes, and present them for response during designatedtimes throughout the Webcast.

• Share a set of emoticons that the audience can use to let you know whether they are in agree-ment, disagreement, want more, want less, and so on.

Structuring the presentation:• Collect potential questions and comments from the audience in advance of the Webcast.

This gives you time to incorporate relevant content.• Make sure there is time before the presentation begins for people to check access and say

“Hello.”

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Include check-inquestions afterfour to fiveslides, to keepstudents inter-ested.

Cacilda, InstructionalDesigner, CA

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• Share the ground rules. Ask if the group wants to change any of the rules, and adjust as appro-priate. (Send ground rules out in advance, if possible.)

• If you wish to collect pre-presentation data from the audience (to make sure you addressquestions, and to get them engaged in the topic), use the polling feature of your Webcast tool.

• Set up the presentation so that you are delivering content in three to five minute chunks.• Between each chunk, open it up for three to five questions.• Leave time at the end for discussion. (I have found that presenters often use their allotted time

for the presentation, leaving no time for audience participation.) • Use the polling feature to check for understanding throughout the presentation. This is a

quick way to get feedback, without waiting for a large group of people to type in theirresponses. Plus, it is something that can be set up in advance of the Webcast.

• If appropriate, provide a way for you and the audience to keep the discussion going after theWebcast; for example, by using an asynchronous communication tool (e.g., threaded discus-sion).

Wish me luck — I have another Webcast coming up, and will certainly put some of these strate-gies into play.

Joanna C. Dunlap, Associate Professor, University of Colorado Denver

When designing a learning course, it is best to have worksheets for the user to fill out, or to tryout a learned lesson. The worksheet should have the option to print, so that the user has some-thing tangible to take along when the browser closes or the lesson is over. The option to clear thepage would be nice too, so the user doesn't have to backspace, or use the button in case theywant to start over.

Elaine Strothers, MS, Associate, Organized Change Consultancy

Include check-in questions after four to five slides to keep students interested.

Cacilda, Instructional Designer, CA

Consider creating actionable and relevant material that can live beyond the session.Whendesigning content, think about how the learner will consume the information, both during thesession and after the session. Think “A-C-T” (Applicability — Context — Transportable) when tryingto create actionable and evergreen experiences:

• Applicability — Offer worksheets and/or workbooks that learners can download and fill outduring the session. This allows learners to acquire knowledge, and apply it to their own envi-ronment.

• Context — During the session, the learner may understand the key concepts being taught.Often, take-home material lacks context, which makes it hard for learners to remember themeaning behind a bullet point. Take-home material should include more background informa-tion than the lesson in the synchronous session does.

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When designing a learning courseit is best to haveworksheets forthe user to fillout, or to try outa learned lesson.The worksheetshould have theoption to print, sothat the user hassomething tangi-ble to take alongwhen the browsercloses or the les-son is over.

Elaine Strothers, MS,Associate, OrganizedChange Consultancy

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• Transportable content — Beyond providing context, at its best the take-home material shouldprovide enough depth and breadth that a new learner can pick up the take-home collateralmaterial and quickly understand the key teaching points.

Vincent Huang, Director, Finance Learning Centers, Corporate Executive Board

Don't forget it is about e-Learning. Synchronous communication and interaction are part of the e-Learning program you offer. Organize, and offer them that way. Consider the goals of the e-Learning program to match the intention of the synchronous event.

Miguel Miní ,Teacher

Minimize the use of slides. The only thing worse than classroom slides and lecture is virtualclassroom slides and lecture. Today's synchronous learning tools are robust enough that yourtrainees can fully engage in their own learning for the majority of any training session. Get cre-ative. Design ways to pull content from the heads of your trainees, and ways for trainees to shareknowledge with each other. If there is knowledge-based foundational content that they mustlearn, then provide it as a resource. Ask learners to read on their own in preparation for an interac-tive, group-based online learning session! You should use the valuable synchronous remote class-room time for active idea generation, problem solving, and other higher-level application activi-ties. In summary, only use a text slide, combined with lecture, when you just can't think of anyother way to build the KSAs (Knowledge-Skills-Attitudes) of your learners. The tools don’t limit us— we're only limited by our design creativity!

Susan McDonald Osborn, Owner, Laurus Design, LLC

Clearly list the instructions for an activity on the screen. Do not just rely on including them inthe Facilitator notes. Some learners need to see and hear. Example:“Send a chat to your host/pre-senter with your best guess.”This saves learners who need more time to process what they hearthe embarrassment of asking again,“What am I supposed to do?”

Debbi Spranza, Virtual Training Lead, First Horizon National

On the Web, where color is free, it is tempting for designers to show emphasis and meaningusing color. Keep in mind that upwards of 10% of men are color-blind. I create e-Learning in thefinancial services industry, which employs a high percentage of white men. Thus, the percentageof our student population with color blindness was even higher. The development team had to bevery cautious when using color as a signal in e-Learning classes; the meaning would be lost to alarge portion of our students. So when designing your e-Learning, consider your audience.Whoare they? Are you expressing meaning or placing emphasis by using green and red? If so, the audi-ence may be lost. Consider using a color and pattern combination for graphics, or a color and font

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Don't forget it isabout e-Learning.Synchronous com-munication andinteraction arepart of the e-Learning pro-gram you offer.Organize, andoffer them thatway. Consider the goals of the e-Learning pro-gram to matchthe intention ofthe synchronousevent.

Miguel Miní , Teacher

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combination for text. A few small steps could allow you to use the color you love, and allow youraudience to get the meaning.

Christiana Houck, Curriculum Developer, Aristocrat Technologies Inc.

We've found that it works best to open a Chat pod before the presentation begins, so peopleentering the room can “talk amongst themselves.”Throwing out a question like,“Where are youfrom?” or “What is your position?" helps target the chat. Once the presentation begins, we changethe chat to only accept questions, which we then answer after the presentation. This way the par-ticipants can focus on the presentation, without having messages come up during the presenta-tion that are unrelated to the topic. Some folks may welcome such chat, so do what works best foryou. Create a few slides that show participants how to use the meeting room functions (Chat,polls, etc.). Loop the presentation, and play it for the 10 minutes before start time.

Lisa Stepanovic, Business Practice Leader, e-Learning, Center for Business, Industry & Labor @ SLCC

Make sure you outline your course. A table of contents and flow of course will typically be likean outline. It pre-sets and guides you during creation, and verifies that you cover all topics.

Michele Largman, Instructional Designer

Summarize, Don't Sermonize. Sparing an hour or two from our busy workday schedules toattend a Webinar is a real investment.We all know about the cost to productivity, and the extratime you wish you had at the end of the day to get everything done. Moreover, speaking of invest-ments, sometimes your employer will want to see a tangible result from your stay in WebinarLand. So what was the takeaway? Can I see what you learned? In every Webinar I have attended orgiven, someone always asks if the presentation material will be available after the session. In fact, Ithink I have asked that very question myself.

The “material” often includes the archived Webinar recording, and the presentation deck(slides). Now, whether you choose to make it available or not is a decision you'll no doubt makebased on the type of Webinar it is (sales, training) and the type of information you are sharing.

If you do make the presentation deck available, here are some design tips, based on my experi-ence on both sides of the microphone:

• Include only highlight points on your screens — do not distract the audience with too many.details. The higher level the points are, the better.

• Keep things clean — stick to your key messages.• Don't overdo it. A busy page leaves much to the imagination.• Avoid rich graphics, as most of us have to print on black and white printers, so the effective-

ness of your high impact photos may be lost. This brings up another excellent question — whyattend the Webinar if the slides are available afterwards? The value added in the Webinar is(and should be) in the training event, not the handouts. You are the presentation. The purpose

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 35

Make sure yououtline yourcourse. A table of contents andflow of coursewill typically belike an outline.It pre-sets andguides you duringcreation, and verifies that youcover all topics.

Michele Largman,Instructional Designer

IV. Tips for Designers of Synchronous Presentations,Courses, and Webinars continued

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of your support material is, if you'll pardon the expression, to keep everyone on the same page.The rest is up to you.

Happy presenting!

Claudio Ierulli, Learning Solutions Developer, CIBC

It is a good idea to build in interaction within every 10 slides. Remember that you can presentinformation in the form of an activity. You don't have to wait until you have reached the end of amodule to conduct a review activity. You don’t have to present content in a lecture, and then re-view it in an activity. You can present it in an activity, and review it in another activity, or in a lec-ture format. That way you can build in more interaction. And you can get your participants think-ing about the content while it's being presented.

Deborah Thomas, Founder and President, SillyMonkey LLC

Use photo services such as photos.com to find professional-looking photos for your courses.These services typically have an annual charge. Then you can obtain as many photos as you needthroughout the year. It's easy to search on the photos, and it will give you creative choices for yourcontent. For instance, for a diversity class you can simply type the word “diversity,” and you willhave hundreds of photos to choose from, depending on the service that you sign up with.

Deborah Thomas, Founder and President, SillyMonkey LLC

V. 8 Tips for Managers Who Lead SynchronousLearning Efforts

Be a leader with the synchronous learning technology. If you use it proficiently yourself, you willbe helping to promote it throughout your organization. Use the technology for e-Meetings, bothinternally and with people from other departments. If others see how well the technology canwork on a day-to-day basis, the positive word will spread, and help others adopt this technology.This helps fight the “traditional” vs.“online” battles we all face.

Carol Huhn, Nuance Communication

Save energies, use synchronous activities when they are viable and workable.

Miguel Miní,Teacher

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 36

Remember thatyou can presentinformation inthe form of anactivity. Youdon't have towait until youhave reached theend of a moduleto conduct areview activity.You don’t haveto present con-tent in a lecture,and then reviewit in an activity.

Deborah Thomas,Founder and President,

SillyMonkey LLC

IV. Tips for Designers of Synchronous Presentations,Courses, and Webinars continued

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Success Story

Philips Medical SystemsGlobal services unit enhances training capabilities with Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Professional software to support innovative eLearning programs serving customers and staff worldwide

Philips Medical Systems

www.medical.philips.com

Industry

Healthcare

Challenges

Establish flexible eLearning initiative accessible from any location

Solution

• Real-timeeLearningconferences

• Synchronoustraining

Philips Medical is using Acrobat Connect Professional to provide employees, partners, and customers with dynamic eLearning programs that improve understanding of advanced healthcare products.

Results

• Reducedemployeetravelandadministrative costs

• Improvedcustomerknowledgeabout sophisticated healthcare technology and clinical uses facilitates better patient care management

•Accelerateddevelopmentanddelivery of eLearning content

• Streamlinedcustomercompliancewith certification and continuing education requirements

Systems At A Glance

• AdobeAcrobatConnectProfessional

•AdobeConnectEnterpriseServer

•AdobePresenter

•AdobeFlash®

•AdobeCaptivate™

•AdobePremiere®Pro

•AdobeCreativeSuite®2.Components used include:

•AdobeInDesign®CS2

•AdobePhotoshop®CS2

•AdobeGoLive®CS2

Improving patient outcomesFor healthcare firms to effectively serve global populations, they must engage learners with information when, where, and how it will have the greatest impact. At Philips Medical Systems, the use of Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional software and the Adobe Connect™ Enterprise Server supports the company’s Learning Services business efforts to provide high-quality, web-based education programs for customers and partners, and enhanced training for marketing, sales, and distribution teams worldwide.

“By successfully training people to use our advanced medical equipment, we simplify healthcare for our customers and help facilitate better patient care management,” says Douglas Dell, Global Director, Learning Services at Philips Medical Systems, the leading U.S. division of Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands. The organization’s Learning Services business reaches more than 135,000 registered users in more than 100 countries with synchronous education, video conferencing, and web seminar services.

For Philips Medical, the benefits of using Acrobat Connect Professional to improve training for employees, partners, and customers are measurable. “We can serve increasing numbers of people with on-demand and real-time training and then relate those efforts to tangible business benefits of increased competencies which translate to system optimization and customer satisfaction,” says Dell.

Overcoming deployment obstacles Philips Medical Systems needs to provide training for its medical equipment customers to achieve maximum utilization of their equipment’s capabilities. In addition to providing product training for customers, Philips Medical also provides continuing education to healthcare professionals. For example, Radiologic Technologists must complete 24 continuing education credits every two years to maintain certification. These efforts support Philips’ service strategy of enhancing the customer experience in every season of system ownership.

Many Philips customers have recognized the benefits of the continuing education and purchased the education component as part of their service agreements—and, as the company determined through an in-depth needs assessment—customers prefer education that is available online 24 hours a day. Prior to standardizing on Acrobat Connect Professional for the synchronous delivery of online education, Philips used a combination of services to deliver training, but was frustrated by the high telecommunications costs, unwieldy downloads, and problems presented by firewalls at customer sites.

To better engage sales and distribution channels outside the corporate network, Philips leverages core functionality in Acrobat Connect Professional. Because Acrobat Connect content is delivered via the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player—which is not dependent upon using certain browsers or computing platforms—Philips eLearning programs are easily available to authorized users on most any digital device. Equally important, the Acrobat Connect content and meetings can be delivered securely and reliably inside medical organizations’ firewalls.

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“With Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, we can regularly engage with our customers, enable our field force to demonstrate the capabilities of our products, and help ensure that people know how to properly use our equipment and leverage the full clinical capabilities,” explains Dell. “This all adds up to patient benefits.”

A blended learning environmentPhilips Medical develops approximately 100 training modules annually, with more than 400 currently in use. Online training programs complement onsite training held at Philips global training centers in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Critical to the synchronous and asynchro-nous learning model at Philips is that online training saves the organization significant travel and staff costs. Archived seminars are available for people who cannot attend in-person meetings.

The online eLearning courses are integrated with the company’s advanced healthcare Learning Management System (LMS), and a content authoring tool developed by Philips to meet the unique needs of the healthcare market. In addition, integrating Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional software and server technology into the company’s computing infrastructure has resulted in additional efficiencies.

To deliver rich media, synchronous eLearning content, Philips uses Adobe Presenter to easily take content from subject matter experts and prepare it for Acrobat Connect Professional sessions. At the same time, staff regularly uses other Adobe tools—Creative Suite 2, including Adobe InDesign CS2, GoLive CS2, and Photoshop CS2, as well as Adobe Premiere Pro, Flash, and Adobe Captivate—to author content, develop web pages, and collaborate.

Engaging users with dynamic contentTo do justice to its visually oriented medical imaging products—such as its advanced iE33 cardiac ultrasound imaging system—Philips needed a training solution that could demonstrate the equipment’s ability to render the human heart and valves in 3D. By easily handling FLV files, Acrobat Connect Professional offered the perfect solution.

Acrobat Connect Professional has also proved invaluable when launching consumer lifestyle products like the Sonicare toothbrush. Philips strategy is to deliver timely, cost-efficient methods to support effective training for its less technical products. The training group delivers dynamic training modules via Adobe solutions to demonstrate the product and how to use it. “Showcasing our products dynamically online leverages the power of Connect and saves us tremendous time and money,” says Dell.

For staff and customers unable to attend real-time or in-person meetings, archived webinars and courses are available. In addition, the use of webinars and ad-hoc web meetings is embraced across the larger Philips organization, reducing travel costs and facilitating better training worldwide.

“As we continue to expand our Learning Service business, Acrobat Connect Professional will be an important conduit to deliver training, establish presence, and build relationships with people globally,” says Dell.

Philips Medical leverages Acrobat Connect Professional to improve training for employees, partners, and customers. Online eLearning courses are integrated with the company’s advanced healthcare Learning Management System (LMS), and a content authoring tool developed by Philips to meet the uniqueneedsofthehealthcaremarket.Forstaffandcustomersunabletoattendreal-timeorin-personmeetings,archivedwebinars and courses are available.

“With Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, we can regularly engage with our customers, enable our field force to demonstrate the capabilities of our products, and help ensure that people know how to properly use our equipment and leverage the full clinical capabilities. This all adds up to patient benefits.”DouglasDell, Global director, Learning Services, Philips Medical Systems

For More Information

www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/

Adobe Systems Incorporated 345ParkAvenue SanJose,CA95110-2704 USA www.adobe.com

Adobe,theAdobelogo,Acrobat,AcrobatConnect,AdobeConnect,AdobePremiere,Captivate,CreativeSuite,Flash,GoLive,InDesign,andPhotoshopareeitherregisteredtrademarksortrademarksofAdobeSystemsIncorporatedintheUnitedStatesand/orothercountries.Allothertrademarksarethepropertyoftheirrespectiveowners.

©2008AdobeSystemsIncorporated.Allrightsreserved.PrintedintheUSA.

95010355 01/08A1.1

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Never assume that a good classroom facilitator makes an engaging and effective virtual facilita-tor. Make sure that you provide your team with the tools, resources, and support that they need,to be successful no matter how talented they may be in a classroom.“Virtually observe” your facil-itators, and ask yourself if the attendees are actually learning from the experience.

Tony SanGiovanni, Sr. Learning & Development Consultant, MetLife

Managers — although your resources may be tight, allowing a second staff member to functionas “producer” or co-presenter often helps the class run more smoothly, since this person can trou-bleshoot, answer questions, or even step in, in the event of an emergency.

Carol Huhn, Nuance Communications

Based on the analysis report, highlight the difficult concepts first, and explain them according toa presentation plan. Review the difficult concepts first, and then go for simple concepts. The order-of-concepts arrangement is an easy way to manage the direction of synchronous learning efforts.This order may be in hierarchy.

Rehman, Instructional Designer, Visionlabs

It's important that the participants give the session their full attention. It's tempting for themto check email, surf the internet, etc., during the session. At the beginning of the session, let theparticipants know how much time it will take, and give them some guidelines to follow duringthe session. If you stick to a reasonable time limit (60 minutes or so), and ask them to turn offtheir email, cell phones, etc., you should have a more productive session. Remind the participantsthat the session is for their benefit, and encourage them to fully participate.

Heather Carroll, Leadership Consultant, Bluewater Interactive

Make your presentation as visually interesting as possible. Subscribe to a clip art library such asdreamstime.com for images. This will help maintain participants' attention more than boringPowerPoint bullet text.

Lisa Stepanovic, Business Practice Leader, e-Learning , Center for Business, Industry & Labor @ SLCC

For the effort of maximizing shareholder wealth, it is important to track marketing intelligenceas well as information on competitors and innovators by using e-Learning. But you have to think ...it should a continuous process ... if you can appoint a specific person for that, it is like an invest-ment for the future, or an intangible asset ... try to put one person as a tracker, as well as an experton company e-Learning. But you need to look for his/her training and development too.

Nalin Abeysekera, Lecturer, Open University of Sri Lanka

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Use photo servic-es such as photos.com to find pro-fessional lookingphotos for yourcourses. Theseservices typicallyhave an annualcharge. Then youcan obtain asmany photos asyou need through-out the year. It'seasy to search onthe photos, and itwill give you cre-ative choices foryour content.

Deborah Thomas,Founder and President,

SillyMonkey LLC

V. Tips for Managers Who Lead Synchronous LearningEfforts continued

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Always have a glass of water ready. I find that cold water will sweat and leave a pool, so I try toget water that is room temperature. I also have some hand-towels ready (usually from the bath-room), so I can quickly wipe up any spills.

Dwayne Dush

Be careful with the wording of questions. Students can't tell if it's a rhetorical question or not.Also, be wary of using double negatives in your questions. Students won't know if they shouldanswer yes or no!

Carol Huhn, Nuance Communications

The quickest way to build credibility with a class is to admit when you don't know something. Ifyou try to fake it, the class will be able to tell, and will quickly discount everything you say.Whensomething comes up that you can't answer, write it down, and get an answer back to the group asquickly as time allows.

Dwayne Dush

Maybe this should be for designers ... I attended one “online course” that was all done overthe phone. The facilitator essentially interviewed the person that was presenting material to makeit sound like a radio show. It made the whole course much more dynamic from the point of a lis-tener. Later, during the course, they had everyone hang up and call a predetermined partner (with-in the course) to do an activity over the call.When the time for the activity was over, we hung up,recalled the group line, and debriefed on our individual experiences. I was quite surprised howwell a simple “phone course” went, and how they had created it to be interactive.

Tracy Hamilton, Education Assistant, Southlake Regional Health Centre

Use the whiteboard as your easel to capture responses during discussion. You can do this in twoways: Keep control of the white board and record responses yourself, OR, release white board con-trol to all participants and let them type their own responses directly. It's an energizing way tocapture key discussion points!

Anne Scott,Training Program Developer, Sodexo

Sometimes multiple participants “huddle” around one computer to take a class together, or willbe in close physical proximity to each other.When the training is delivered to multiple clusters oflearners in this way, small group breakouts are easy to incorporate into the class. At the conclusionof an activity, you can use chat and polling features to allow each group to present findings to theclass.

Holly Mason, Senior Instructional Technologist, Commonwealth Trading Partners

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 40

Be careful withthe wording ofquestions. Stu-dents can't tell ifit's a rhetoricalquestion or not.Also, be wary ofusing double neg-atives in yourquestions. Stu-dents won't knowif they shouldanswer yes or no!

Carol Huhn, NuanceCommunications

VI. 53 Tips for Synchronous Speakers and Instructors

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When working with a visual presentation (like PowerPoint), NEVER just read what is on theslide. Use the information on the slide as a guide to your presentation. The slides can elaborateyour speaking points, illustrate them, or summarize them. But the slides should never BE the pres-entation.

Dwayne Dush

Use a pre-assessment to determine your audience needs, capabilities, interests, preferences, andexpectations. Then use a post-assessment to evaluate your presentation, and determine if youwere successful. Align measures for the pre-assessment and post-assessment, to best determineoutcomes and areas for improvement.

Margaret Martinez, CEO,The Training Place, Inc.

SET EXPECTATIONS:Whether I'm leading a traditional classroom session or one over the Web,one of the first things I do is to start by telling everyone when we will take breaks, that they canask questions right away rather than holding them until the end, and review the course outline tohelp explain the format of the class. It typically doesn't matter what rules you set in place, as longas you communicate them, explain the reasons for the rules, and consistently follow the rules.

Dwayne Dush

If your application has a “feedback” tool, encourage the students to use it to tell you if you aregoing too fast or too slow. In a traditional classroom, you can tell when you are moving too fast bythe “deer in the headlights” look on a learner's face. Since you cannot usually see the learners in asynchronous class, using the feedback tool may help to guage how you are doing.

Carol Huhn, Nuance Communications

Practice before the live event. Upload content, walk through exercises, conduct polls, etc. Goingthrough your session at least once, before you have your participants, will allow you to identifyareas of concern and find solutions.

Sarah Remijan, Manager, Club and District Training, Rotary International

Emoticons aren’t just for email! Emoticons are generally facial expressions put together fromkeyboard letters and symbols to help express the tone and emotion of the sentence, paragraph, ormessage. Since text-based communication can bring added uncertainty, emoticons can greatlyfacilitate the tone and emotion you have intended in the message. Use emoticons if you want to

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Practice beforethe live event.Upload content,walk throughexercises, conductpolls, etc. Goingthrough your session at leastonce, before youhave your partici-pants, will allowyou to identifyareas of concernand find solu-tions.

Sarah Remijan,Manager, Club and

District Training, RotaryInternational

VI. Tips for Synchronous Speakers and Instructors continued

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help the student with the intention of your tone through the text. Following are some examplesof common emoticons used in text communication:

:-) = smile or happy.-) = smile with a wink:-D = big grin:-o = wow, or I'm surprised:-( = frown or sad

Michele Meissner, Instructional Designer, University of Michigan Health System

Do the same participants always answer your in-class quiz questions? Prepare your questions inindex cards (one question per card). Note the unit or topic on the card. Ask the learners to “lineup” and then ask each learner a question, in turn. This puts the learners in random order. If thelearner cannot answer the question correctly, allow the next learner a chance. Make notes on yourindex card such as:“need to reword the question,”“double-check curriculum, page 12,”“easy ques-tion,” or “need more practice.”This gives the learners an opportunity to test their knowledge, andask about what they don't understand. It also provides the instructor with feedback about whichtopics need more coverage, and which questions to reword.

Jill Easterday, Consultant

To train customer service agents in the use of courtesy phrases, require each agent to sign onand off with the appropriate greeting and closing. Also, require courtesy phrases in class, such as,“Please,”“Thank you,” and “You're welcome.”The added repetition encourages good habits! Besure to point out how courtesy affects both the conversation and the quality score.

Jill Easterday, Consultant

If you are taping the event for later viewing, avoid unnecessary noises (like beeps every time anew participant enters) that will distract those watching the recorded session, and may evencause them to stop watching.

Sarah Remijan, Manager, Club and District Training, Rotary International

Much time can be lost at the beginning of a session by attendees “staggering in” and interrupt-ing proceedings. To prevent this, ask your students or attendees to log on about 10 to 15 minutesbefore the actual start time. At this time, say “Hello” as people come in to the live environment,ask them to say “Hello” back, so you can test their microphone and sound settings, and Webcamsif applicable. Have a slide or text on display that also says “Welcome,” and that you're still waitingto begin. Then at the appointed time (or a little over, to wait for the inevitable late arrivals) beginthe session by moving to your actual Start slide or text, and announce that you are beginning. Thiswill not only give you a smooth and immediately productive start, but it will also prevent techni-

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 42

If you are tapingthe event for laterviewing, avoidunnecessary nois-es (like beepsevery time a newparticipant enters)that will distractthose watchingthe recorded ses-sion, and mayeven cause themto stop watching.

Sarah Remijan, Manager,Club and District

Training, RotaryInternational

VI. Tips for Synchronous Speakers and Instructors continued

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cal issues in the middle of your session, when attendees suddenly discover that their Webcam/micis not working.

Joyce Seitzinger, EIT Hawke's Bay

For training that is one day or longer, use the “Team Teaching” approach whenever possible. Itwill help the students stay attentive when they have a variety of voices and presentation styles tolisten to during the class.

Dwayne Dush

Here is a nice introduction that has many applications. I use it when training folks on softwareapplications.“There 'IS' little difference between nuisance and nuance. I am here to take the “IS”out of nuisance.”“What is a NuISance? Something you neither expect to encounter, nor knowwhat to do when you encounter it. A nuance? A nuance is something that is different, but youeither expect it or know what to do. My job, here, today, will be to take the “IS” out of what is aNuISance to you using ______.”

Tim Pearson, Lead Consultant, Datatel, Inc.

For a weeklong training session, we play the “ABC” game in class on the last day. I list the lettersA through Z on the board. Then I tell the class that, as a group, they have to come up with some-thing they learned during the week that connects to each of the 26 letters.When down to diffi-cult letters (like X) allow lots of flexibility. (X can be something like “Xtra Attention to Details”) Ittypically turns into a fun way to review the week, and shows the students how much they actual-ly did learn.

Dwayne Dush

Imagine you're in the same room with your learners, and welcoming them to your party. It cre-ates a warmer atmosphere that they will be able to feel.Work on vocal variety. It's hard to stayawake and learning when you're hearing a droning voice. Practice by reading children's storiesaloud! Use informal, inclusive language that encourages participants to interact. Formal languagedistances you from them, and you are already distanced by the geography and the technology.Use your language and voice to overcome that distance. Got an exercise to do? Have one partici-pant coach another on how to do it. Ask all the others to stand by in case one of them asks forhelp. Choose the participants, don't ask for volunteers (you won't get many, or only the keeners).

Julie Biddle,Training Specialist, Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 43

For training thatis one day orlonger, use the“Team Teaching”approach when-ever possible. Itwill help the stu-dents stay atten-tive when theyhave a variety ofvoices and pres-entation styles tolisten to duringthe class.

Dwayne Dush

VI. Tips for Synchronous Speakers and Instructors continued

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Signpost, signpost, signpost. Think about your transitions into and around a page. Before youmove on to the next slide, give them a taste of what to expect. This will help the learner quicklyunderstand the meaning behind the slide. Often, I see speakers or instructors react to a page. Pre-script your transitions.While on the page, always provide navigation signposts for the learner.Whether the speaker is moving from left to right, or top to bottom, verbal cues will help the learn-er visually navigate the page.

Vincent Huang, Director, Finance Learning Centers, Corporate Executive Board

Always Have a Backup Plan: Audio always dominates the visual in synchronous delivery.Participants will tolerate a less-than-perfect video image, or slowish download of graphics, if themomentum of the conversation can be maintained with the audio flow. Also, if anything is goingto happen, it is far more likely that the visual part of your presentation will cause problems, so beprepared. Here are some tips that may be helpful:Where appropriate, upload materials to a courseLMS or Wiki prior to the synchronous session. Students can download these, and view them fromtheir desktop if required during the session (very useful if students have an annotation tool theycan use during the conference). If you are planning on presenting a slideshow, or using graphics asa part of a presentation, make sure you have them available in another place on the Web. I findSlideshare (http://www.slideshare.com),TeachTube (http://www.teachertube.com) and Flickr(http://www.flickr.com) very useful here. If you are sharing graphics or a slideshow, take the timeto optimize the graphics you use (reducing the file size) to make it easier to share in an onlineenvironment. A photograph inserted into a PowerPoint show, for instance, can be over a megabytein size, but you can easily reduce it by using something like Photoshop or even Imagewell. Alwayshave a “back-chat” channel open for use.

Derek Wenmoth, Director, e-Learning, Core Education

Do a test run of your program with a few people who aren't subject matter experts. You will getthe best ideas of simple things you can do to improve your program's flow, timing, and explana-tions from people who are less familiar with your topic.

Sarah Beth Larson, Instructional Designer, Lifeblood/MSRBC

Embed hyperlinks in some of your slides. These would be the “nice to know” slides, and not the“need to know slides.” If you are rushed for time during a presentation, you can click on the strate-gic hyperlink and “jump” over slides. Then the audience does not see the presenter fumblingthrough a series of slides.

Jim Swan,Training and Development Consultant,The Hartford

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 44

Do a test run ofyour programwith a few peo-ple who aren'tsubject matterexperts. You willget the bestideas of simplethings you cando to improveyour program'sflow, timing, andexplanationsfrom people whoare less familiarwith your topic.

Sarah Beth Larson,Instructional Designer,

Lifeblood/MSRBC

VI. Tips for Synchronous Speakers and Instructors continued

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Review all the experience gained from radio and TV broadcasting. Decades of knowledge aboutcommunicating through audio and video are available. Even while today's technology helps pre-vent interference in messages (noise, shadows, delays), there's nothing like plain communication,direct and effective.

Miguel Miní,Teacher

To help the audience anticipate what's going to happen next during a Webcast,TELL THEM. Forexample, if you're going to do a poll, tell them “I'm going to open a poll now,” ...“I'm going to closethe poll now.”This will also give a cue to the meeting host if they have control over polls. It seemssimple, but it's critical. It prevents people from getting confused when the windows shift aroundon the screen.

Lisa Stepanovic, Business Practice Leader, e-Learning, Center for Business, Industry & Labor @ SLCC

Practice A LOT! Presenting online is quite different from a traditional in-person presentation,where you can see the audience and their reactions. Get comfortable with this format well beforethe live event.

Lisa Stepanovic, Business Practice Leader, e-Learning, Center for Business, Industry & Labor @ SLCC

Trust your technology. Avoid phrases such as,“Hopefully everyone can see this” or,“Let's see ifthis will work.”There is no need to lower expectations before you even begin. You can be sure thatif no one can see, even if the service you use does not somehow communicate that to you, yourparticipants will let you know.

Debbi Spranza, Virtual Training Lead, First Horizon National

When using breakout rooms, you should determine if your call-in system (if other than VoIP)allows for breakout conversations. This will allow your small groups to not only work together inthe e-space, but also communicate via phone. Make sure to clearly explain how to return to themain “room” after the breakout period has ended. You don't want learners to have to call in againif they get disconnected!

Deborah Nugent, Learning Consultant, Fidelity Investments

Especially for non-native English speakers: Pre-record your presentation with narration. For ques-tions, pause your presentation, or wait until it’s finished, and then do a live voice-chat if needed —or stay with the chat window or to the pods.

Ole Kristensen, Senior e-Learning Consultant, Grundfos Management

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 45

Practice A LOT!Presenting onlineis quite differentfrom a traditionalin-person presen-tation, where youcan see the audi-ence and theirreactions. Getcomfortable withthis format wellbefore the liveevent.

Lisa Stepanovic,Business Practice Leader,

e-Learning, Center forBusiness, Industry &

Labor @ SLCC

VI. Tips for Synchronous Speakers and Instructors continued

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If leading a chat room session, I prepare my questions that I want to ask in a Word document.Then I cut and paste the questions into the chat window, following the order from the document.I ask my students to read a relevant article beforehand. I usually start prompting the students,using the order in the chat window. However, as the students start participating, I let them choosewhen to answer the question. Sometimes if the chat content deviates slightly I let it go as long asit is relevant to the topic.

Malcolm Roberts, Program manager: Grad Diploma IT in Education,Wintec

• Don't be afraid of silence. Your participants may need a moment to collect their thoughts,especially if you are conducting the session in a language that is not their native tongue.

• Take advantage of collaboration and annotation tools. Participants who are normally quietduring a synchronous session, are often more willing to contribute via a text tool.

• Don't feel like you have to answer every question yourself. You have several smart, capable,experienced people in the session. Ask the participants how they might approach a problem. Itkeeps them more engaged, and you will get many creative answers.

Tracy Ross, Instructional Designer, Intel Corporation

If you are facilitating in a virtual world, where both you and the participants are represented byavatars, don't just position your avatar in a fixed spot, such as the podium, while you deliver yourcontent. Instead, move your avatar around as you present. This makes the participants stay en-gaged in a literally hands-on way, as they move their avatars to stay in visual contact with you. Infact, don't hesitate to ask everyone to gather in a different spot from time to time to keep themactive, or to have them gesture wildly or jump up and down — the equivalent of a live-classroomstretch break. And speaking of gesturing, take advantage of the capabilities you have to makeyour facilitator avatar more life-like. Use gestures, facial expressions, and movement to make yourpresentation more dynamic. If you find the prospect of controlling your avatar while speaking andpresenting slide content daunting, enlist the help of a co-facilitator. Four hands are better thantwo, when it comes to making virtual training come alive!

David Werboff, Group Director, e-Learning Solutions, Informa Training Partners

You can use ustream.tv to deliver a video and VoIP for FREE! Attendees can view the lessonwhile interacting in a chat feature. Ustream.tv will also allow you to archive the video for later use.One additional benefit would be a single Web address for all sessions, rather than a new one foreach session.

Kelly Kirk, Distance Education Program Director, Davidson County Community College

When conducting virtual classroom sessions, it is beneficial to have a co-moderator for sessionswith more than 20 participants. The co-moderator does not need to be a subject-matter expert.

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 46

You can useustream.tv todeliver a videoand VoIP for FREE!Attendees canview the lessonwhile interactingin a chat feature.Ustream. tv willalso allow you toarchive the videofor later use. Oneadditional benefitwould be a singleWeb address forall sessions, ratherthan a new onefor each session.

Kelly Kirk,Distance EducationProgram Director,

Davidson CountyCommunity College

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They can help to field and organize chat questions that are submitted. My previous experienceshave shown that it is difficult for a primary moderator to keep up with chat questions for largergroups. A co-moderator helps to manage the process. The results are wonderful!

Jamal, Director, Learning Technologies, HR People Development

If your class runs over several weeks with the same students, have them all get Instant Messen-ger accounts, and have them keep these accounts open when class is going on. That way, if themain synchronous system you are using fails, you have a way of getting in touch with them.Likewise, if their audio fails suddenly, or they cannot see your mouse movements, they have aquiet way to get in touch with you. People often ask why I don’t use the messaging system builtinto the synchronous tool. The reason that isn’t a good idea, is that, if the synchronous tool fails,you lose all of your communication tools. It is also a good idea to have phone numbers for severalof your students. That way, if your network connection fails, or you have to reboot to recover froma freeze, you can call one of those students, and they can pass that information on to your class.Perhaps your fix is something as simple as a reboot, but if that takes five minutes, and your stu-dents do not know what is going on, they may leave before you come back. This helps keep themaround.

Jeffry Gordon, Professor of Educational Informatics, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing

To set interaction expectations early, poll, survey or use some other activity within the first fiveto ten minutes of your Web-based training session. Follow up with additional activities every 15 to20 minutes. You may do polls and surveys via your Web meeting tool, or, if your group is small, ver-bally. Be certain to share the poll or survey results with your Web trainees.

Jeffrey Hippler, Senior Implementation Consultant,Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

After you ask a question, count to thirty! Do not be afraid of silence following a question. Youmust give people time to gather their thoughts and respond before you move on. Many peopleare new to the synchronous learning environment, and it may take them a few moments toremember how to raise their hand or how to respond in the Chat area.

Karin Rex, Owner, Geeky Girl, LLC

Keep calm when some trainees seem to be unable to concentrate on the material you are pre-senting, even in 20-minute segments. I put noiseless little “toys” on each table (such as smallstuffed toys or balls) for those with some attention deficit to manipulate (almost unconsciously)while listening. In the Middle East,“worry beads” accomplish this. Main tip: Do not fret or punishthose who seem to be fidgeting (though not disturbing others) or even doodling — it seems tohelp those with attention deficit to actually focus painlessly. I have tried it in classes. This works

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 47

If your class runsover several weekswith the same students, havethem all getInstant Messen-ger accounts, andhave them keepthese accountsopen when class is going on. Thatway, if the mainsynchronous sys-tem you are usingfails, you have away of getting intouch with them.

Jeffry Gordon,Professor of Educational

Informatics, VanderbiltUniversity School of

Nursing

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with synchronous and non-synchronous learning for some people. A professor from the Universityof Minnesota tried this with a whole class and me, and he was successful in increasing our learn-ing and our joy in learning.

John Michael Lyons,Trainer of Trainers, Independent Consultant

Structuring group and team learning activities: Assign rotating functions for each member ofthe group (four learners per group is ideal, or even five) in their discussion. For example, firstassign one of the volunteers as TIME KEEPER for each group, and give him/her absolute power toremind members of time remaining and when to stop. Then, assign a NOTE-TAKER (whose notesare official), then a PRESENTER(s), then a VISUAL-AID MAKER(s). Finally the remaining person is theGROUP LEADER, whose function is to give the activity OBJECTIVE and explain it to members, andthen to encourage each member for input. He or she only votes to break a tie. This last one is mostimportant in places where leader means absolute DECIDER — this helps to redefine leadership ina very practical way.

John Michael Lyons,Trainer of Trainers, Independent Consultant

When doing events that use voice, but not necessarily streaming video, I found it very helpful topre-record what I was planning to say, and then to listen to the speech and the phrasing. By doingso, I could polish the presentation, and I managed to eliminate some of the potential for awkwardphrasing which may arise in an “off the cuff” speech. As I told later instructors and presenters inour organization, synchronous work is like radio broadcasting. You have to be clear, concise, andpolished. Adapt to the medium and the loss of “presence,” so that you,“Say more, but speak less.”

Mark L. Sheppard, Sr. Education Officer, Smart Systems for Health Agency

Dry RUN! It is a good idea to perform a short, but full-dress, rehearsal before your big event.Create a practice online event, preferably using the actual content, and start presenting. Have acolleague join you in this dry run through a separate PC logged in as audience, so that you can getfeedback on how it looks to the audience. Better still; have another machine arranged for you dur-ing the dry run, which is logged in as participant, so that you can see for yourself as well.

Uday Kranti, Sr. Consultant, NIIT

The first important thing to keep in mind is that your online event cannot appear like aPowerPoint with speaker voice-over. Having participation is as important as having participants.Go through the features of the tool you use for the online event. Look for possibilities of real-timepolls, chats, and voice-based discussions you can include to make it more participative. You mighthave years of speaking experience, but if you are a first-time synchronous speaker or instructor,prior participation as audience in a similar event will help. Most of the good organizations

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 48

When doingevents that usevoice, but not nec-essarily streamingvideo, I found itvery helpful topre-record what Iwas planning tosay, and then tolisten to thespeech and thephrasing. By doingso, I could polishthe presentation,and I managed toeliminate some ofthe potential forawkward phrasingwhich may arise in an “off the cuff”speech.

Mark L. Sheppard, Sr.Education Officer,

Smart Systems for HealthAgency

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involved in online synchronous learning tools host regular meetings to promote their product.Attending one of them is a good start. Try joining in on a presentation hosted by the organizationthat makes the tool you intend to use. The good thing is that their presentation will include prod-uct features that you can use. They will also provide you links to other sources that can help youpresent better. The next, equally important tip, is to keep the first few minutes for the “weather”(you don’t necessarily need to talk about the weather). Even a punctual audience may not havetheir wrist watch synchronized with yours. The idea is to accommodate the first three to five min-utes waiting for people to join in, without having dead air. The on-hold music is another put off.Talking about some rules to follow during the event is one way to utilize the first couple of min-utes.

Uday Kranti, Sr. Consultant, NIIT

If you can have another speaker, including having someone in the class explain a process or con-cept, it breaks up the class and re-gains attention.

Patty Skerl, Senior Talent Development Specialist, AmTrust Bank

• If at all possible, have two machines. One to “lead,” and one to see what your participants areseeing.

• Practice, practice, practice.• Keep a bottle of water handy, your throat will become parched.• Use a headset, not an open mike.• Close everything on your computer desktop, other than what you really need for your session.• It's not necessary to be a total geek (hey, I'm only a semi-geek), but you need to UNDERSTAND

the technology you're working with, enough to understand what could go wrong (or right)during your session.

Paula Cancro

Whenever possible, set up two computers side by side, and log one in as the presenter and theother as an attendee. This way you can see both views. Many times what they see isn't what yousee, and so you won't be chatting away, oblivious that your students are viewing a blank screen.

Jean Marrapodi, Ph.D., CPLP, Solutions Specialist, Mimeo.com

Whenever you are presenting software programs online, and don't have the luxury of havingeveryone on their own PC, it's important to take frequent breaks to let your audience demonstratethat they are gaining the concepts you are presenting. You should only use this type of training forshorter software training classes, rather than for critical data entry types. It's useful for lookup typeof database training. Use the “pass the mouse” feature, and let them demonstrate that they have

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 49

If you can haveanother speaker,including havingsomeone in theclass explain aprocess or con-cept, it breaksup the class andre-gains atten-tion.

Patty Skerl,Senior Talent

Development Specialist,AmTrust Bank

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mastered the task. I assign three or four roles, depending on the size of the class: 1) PICKER (orCHOOSER):This person makes any choices. For example, which font, which name if there are sev-eral choices. Adult learners like to have choices. 2) DRIVER:This is the person moving the mouse.However s/he MAY NOT move the mouse without instruction from the talker. 3) TALKER:This per-son gives instructions to the driver. They may reference the manual. S/he may ask the COACH(below) for help. 4) COACH:This role is for the remainder of the group, and is optional. They mayassist the talker if the talker has trouble and asks for help. Their other role is to “Ahem,” if theTALKER appears to be leading the DRIVER astray. It's important to make a chart of who is PICKER,DRIVER, and TALKER for each exercise, and switch them for each exercise.What is interesting isthat they root for one another, and internally follow along with the steps of the DRIVER, practicingthe steps as if they were driving the mouse themselves. Everyone is involved, even though youmay not have everyone on a PC. It leverages the team spirit, which can be reinforced at the endwhen the trainer may not be available, where they can all help one another with the programafter class. Trainees leave class saying it was an incredibly fun way to learn software.

Jean Marrapodi, Ph.D., CPLP, Solutions Specialist, Mimeo.com

This tip is for using a synchronous Webinar tool (such as Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting,WebEx,etc.). As a speaker or an instructor, you should have another computer next to you and log in as a(fake) participant, so you can compare the two screens, and tell what the participants are seeingwhile you are presenting.

Seung Youn (Yonnie) Chyung, Associate Professor, Boise State University

Avoid phrases such as “notice this” or “look here” and replace them with more descriptive phras-es like “Notice the small blue icon at the top of your screen” or “Look at the third bullet regarding...”. These extra few words will paint a visual picture, and help guide the learner to what you aredescribing.

Rory Frey, Consultant Technical Training,The Hartford

Count on the first session taking 15 minutes to kick off, especially if people are new to the tech-nique. Build that time into the first presentation. Also, have a technical person on standby to trou-bleshoot anything from the presenter's end.

Bradley Shoebottom, Information Architect, Innovatia

To promote interaction and participation while serving as a review exercise, I use the followingtechnique:

1. Ask each attendee to formulate a review question (T\F, Fill-in-the-blank, short answer, etc.).2. View the Attendees List on the left. In your notes, record the name of the persons directly

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 50

Count on the firstsession taking 15minutes to kickoff, especially ifpeople are new to the technique.Build that timeinto the first pres-entation. Also,have a technicalperson on stand-by to trouble-shoot anythingfrom the presen-ter's end.

Bradley Shoebottom,Information Architect,

Innovatia

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above and below you in the list as follows:ABOVE: Mary Jones BELOW:Tom Smith 3. Using the Chat box, type your review question and send it ONLY to your BELOW person.4. Upon receiving a review question, reply with the correct answer (use your notes and work-

book if needed) ONLY to your ABOVE person.5. Reply to the BELOW person either indicating the answer was correct or by providing the cor-

rect answer.6. Change your My Status to Thumbs Up when complete.

Steve Cavin, Consultant/Technical Trainer, Datatel, Inc.

If you train over the internet (collaboratively via a tool like WebEx, Interwise, Placeware, orCentra), make sure you constantly “check-in” with your audience. Speak slowly and clearly. Don'tuse jargon, as your audience may be international, and not understand your words.

Michele Largman, Instructional Designer

Don't forget to take breaks. Just because you are connected remotely, doesn’t mean peopledon’t need “bio breaks.”

Michele Largman, Instructional Designer

VII. 23 Tips for Technical Production, Planning andPreparation

Anticipate technical problems, and determine what you will do if they occur “live.” Always havea plan B to follow, if the audio and/or video is lost or of poor quality.What will you do if the servergoes down? The key is to communicate problems to the audience, so they're not left hanging.

Lisa Stepanovic, Business Practice Leader, e-Learning, Center for Business, Industry & Labor @ SLCC

Prior to the live meeting, put together a “flow” document that the presenter, host, and technicalfolks can follow during the Webcast. Document everything that will happen during the meeting— introductions, polls, Q&A, when to show specific slide numbers — and who is responsible foreach of these.

Lisa Stepanovic, Business Practice Leader, e-Learning, Center for Business, Industry & Labor @ SLCC

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 51

Don't forget totake breaks. Justbecause you areconnected re-motely, doesn’tmean peopledon’t need “biobreaks.”

Michele Largman,Instructional Designer

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Keep your online learners from drifting away. Enter Adobe.

With ADOBE® ACROBAT® CONNECT™ PRO you can quickly create online virtual classes that capture and keep your learners’ attention. You can use video, interactive games, simulations, and breakout rooms for focused discussions. It’s like a real classroom. Dynamic. Interactive. Engaging. Learn more at adobe.com/acrobatconnectpro. Business never looked better.

© 2008 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo and LiveCycle are either registeredtrademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and /or other countries.

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Assure that you provide to participants, ahead of time, all the info about needed configurationsettings (for example: Flash version, JAVA, Firewall settings) and specify where they can get it.Provide more than one connection to each session, in order to avoid too much traffic over a singlelink. Always provide an automatic “add to calendar” schedule option according to the time region(e.g. Eastern Time vs. GMT)

Elisio Carmona, Senior Consultant, Deloitte

The best tip I can offer for synchronous technology is to always use at least two computers forWebcasting. Use one computer (in my case this is the “presenter's” computer) to send the outgo-ing video, audio, and images. Use a second computer (for me this is the meeting “host's” comput-er), to manage the meeting software and monitor the video, audio, and images coming from thepresenter.

James Lloyd,Training Developer, Promega Corporation

• Encourage facilitators to use a production assistant. The assistant can field questions, helpwith technical problems, and generally help keep the session on track.

• Facilitators should schedule practice sessions before their first live session, to make sure theyare very comfortable with the tools.

• Create a welcome slide to greet participants as they log in. It lets them know they are in theright place, and sets the tone for the session. If you have a “slideshow” option (such as the onein LiveMeeting 2007), create a three- or four-slide welcome deck to rotate as participants login. Share instructor information and photo, a couple of “Did you know?” facts about the ses-sion topic, or other relevant info.

• Facilitators should log in at least 10 to 15 minutes before the session, to load documents, testthat all is working properly, and greet participants as they join.

Tracy Ross, Instructional Designer, Intel Corporation

Motivated team leaders are critical to your project's success. Before beginning a project, select aProject Manager and Lead Developer who are comfortable working together. Make sure theseteam players are passionate, and bring enthusiasm to the project. People who are excited to workon a project are much more effective and productive than people who are not motivated. A badseed on the production team will bring the entire project down. Once you align motivated teamleaders, you will need to rely on their enthusiasm to keep the project rolling. I always ask mydevelopers in the performance review,“What are your favorite parts of your job? What do you likeso much that you would do it for free?” I listen carefully, and make sure I am aligning them to dothe development work that is close to their heart. I have found that this allows me to get the bestperformance and loyalty out of my employees. They are happy doing a job that they enjoy, theycome to work with a smile on their face, and they are highly motivated to be on the developmentteam. Finally, if everyone wants to do the same thing, and all the glory jobs are taken, I put incen-

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 53

Motivated teamleaders are criticalto your project'ssuccess. Beforebeginning a proj-ect, select a Pro-ject Manager andLead Developerwho are comfort-able workingtogether. Makesure these teamplayers are pas-sionate, and bringenthusiasm to the project.

Jacquie Beck, SVP,e-Learning , Brookwood

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tives around the jobs that are least popular. For example, no one wants to QA content — especial-ly boring content! Therefore, I have an incentive program that pays my QA Team $3 for every legiti-mate bug they find. In some cases, with longer projects, it isn’t unusual to find 15 to 20 bugs.Withthis system in place, my developers can make an extra $45 to $60 per day doing QA, and beingvery detail-oriented. This ensures they are doing high-quality testing, they are trying their best tofind mistakes, and they are getting rewarded for doing a not-so-popular job.

Jacquie Beck, SVP, e-Learning , Brookwood

Be ready to customize on the fly. Most synchronous tools have a polling feature that defaults toa YES/NO question. It's great to have your questions pre-loaded, but if something comes up duringthe presentation, ask the question verbally, and leave the text field for the question blank.(Practice this beforehand.)

Michael Coleman, e-Learning Manager, BOMI International

Until the tool becomes second nature, take the time to give practice sessions with participantsprior to the learning event, or build in some time at the beginning of the session for a practice ses-sion.

Paula Colwell, Learning Specialist, Canada School of Public Service

Be vigilant about preparation. Each presenter, no matter how experienced online, needs to testthe setup of this session with this content and this equipment. Make no assumptions.

Karen Hyder, Online Event Producer and Speaker Coach,The e-Learning Guild

Use music and commercial jingles throughout the training. It is very welcoming to have musicplaying in the background as guests join the session, or while they are conducting an exercise.Wealso like to use fake commercial jingles when switching to a new topic as a way to transition. Youcan easily play music with a simple phone adapter line that plays from your PC's speaker.

Rory Frey, Consultant Technical Training,The Hartford

Some voices, no matter how well they project in the classroom, just don't record well, or carryover VoIP.When this happens, no amount of speaking loudly or increasing the input volume onthe computer will solve the problem. Instead of using a standard USB microphone, and having thestudents turn up the volume, record yourself using an actual microphone plugged into an amp,and then into the computer’s microphone jack. You'll be amazed at how wonderful your voicesounds.

Christiana Houck, Curriculum Developer, Aristocrat Technologies Inc.

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 54

Until the tool be-comes secondnature, take thetime to givepractice sessionswith participantsprior to thelearning event,or build in sometime at the begin-ning of the ses-sion for a prac-tice session.

Paula Colwell, LearningSpecialist, Canada School

of Public Service

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Just say “No” to wireless network connections. As a meeting host or presenter, you cannotafford the intermittent lapses that can happen with even the best wireless connection. It is notworth the grief to even consider this worth the risk.

James Lloyd,Training Developer, Promega Corporation

Create a “bogus” student for the class. This way, when you are testing the material, you can login as a leader on one PC and as a student on the other. This allows you to see the online materialexactly the way a student sees it. It's a good troubleshooting tool when you are not sure howsomething will look when presented online.

Carol Huhn, Nuance Communications

For the one-person e-Learning shop or department: Begin with your business objectives. Thenestablish metrics that you can build into the outcome. If you are developing without clear busi-ness objectives, start with a sample focus group of your audience to establish “Top” performancegaps. Hopefully, you shouldn't have more than about five to eight objectives for a single SCO(sharable content object.) If you have more than that, consider restructuring the SCO. Always keepin mind that your audience will have divided attention, and varying degrees of previous experi-ence with your topical matter. For self-paced e-Learning, plan to keep information in approximate-ly 90- to 120-second chunks. This is to ensure that you have targeted outcomes. For blended inter-actions, consider that, unlike a classroom setting, many people turn to e-Learning as a short-but-sweet interlude. Therefore, you should attempt to meet that need by keeping live synchronouslearning to less than 30 minutes. Don't fret; you can always supplement any areas that may havebeen glossed over, using online documentation. Once you've determined what needs to be includ-ed, and why you need to measure it, the next step in planning is considering how you want topresent your materials. Consider the technical capabilities of your audience, and if possible do asmall field test with a sample group. If you cannot do a field test, a quick phone call will suffice toestablish what your audience can and cannot do. I like to establish the uppermost technical abili-ties, and the lower-most, and then develop with the middle in mind. Now for the scheduling fordevelopment, I use an 8:1 ratio. For every one minute of e-Learning, it will take approximately 8HOURS of development. (The ratio is closer to 480:1 on a minute basis) Why so much time? Unlessyou are an exceptionally great Flash developer, or you have an established (read 100+) library ofSCO's at the ready, or you have a team of SME's who can do the dedicated development for you, ina one-person shop you will be developing, researching, testing, and deploying all by your lone-some. Incidentally, I'm speaking of developing with off-the-shelf tools, as well as plug and playsoftware. So the total planning time for a 120 second SCO is about one to two days.

Kira Zadow-Colley,Training Analyst, Hotwire.com

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 55

Just say no towireless networkconnections. As ameeting host orpresenter, youcannot afford theintermittent laps-es that can hap-pen with eventhe best wirelessconnection. It isnot worth thegrief to even con-sider this worththe risk.

James Lloyd,Training Developer,

Promega Corporation

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Is it a conference? Remember that workshops and laboratories are more participatory, collab-orative, and constructive. In short, they are more meaningful. If an eminence will be available forstudents, be welcome. Online teachers should be facilitators of the e-Learning process, instead oflecturers.

Miguel Miní,Teacher

The most important ingredient to successful participation by your audience is for them to haveall the technology pieces running well (client-side plug-ins, popup blockers, and all the rest).Whileyou might have rehearsed with the technology before, not all members of your audience mayhave done so. Most surveys indicate that at least 33% of the audience faces trouble joining theonline event.With the first 10 minutes lost, the audience feels left out, and continues with redu-ced interest.With all your invitations, do send in a link that your audience can use to test their set-tings. If you think most of your audience is new to this mode of learning, another way to handlethis is to have a very short event scheduled (with a suitable name and agenda) before the firstmain event. This ensures that the hiccups don't happen with your main event.

Uday Kranti, Sr. Consultant

Develop two or three announcement emails to send at regularly scheduled intervals in advanceof your Webinar. Provide some information and motivation to get the learners excited, involved,and aware of the scheduled date and time of the event.

Patrick Hentschell, E-Learning Project Manager, FM Global

Be sure to test everything in advance (at least a week) and then again on the day before, andagain on the day of the event. If the learners need to use certain software, have them test at leasta week before also, to ensure there are no firewalls, etc. that they may need to overcome prior tothe meeting. Also, find a backup plan. If the technology just won't work the day of the meeting,and re-scheduling is out of the question, can you send materials via email and do a conference callthat way, or chat? Think out-of-the-box for alternatives, just in case.

Patty Skerl, Senior Talent Development Specialist, AmTrust Bank

If you are unsure of the bandwidth availability at various audience locations, prefer using a dial-in number, rather than using the online meeting features for presenter audio. Most online meet-ing products offer both options. Slow-loading images are a lesser pain than crackling or laggingaudio.

Uday Kranti, Sr. Consultant

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 56

Develop two orthree announce-ment emails tosend at regularlyscheduled inter-vals in advance of your Webinar.Provide someinformation andmotivation to getthe learners excit-ed, involved, andaware of thescheduled dateand time of theevent.

Patrick Hentschell,E-Learning Project

Manager, FM Global

VII. Tips for Technical Production, Planning andPreparation continued

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Do you have a disaster plan? We've only encountered the worst situation once in our Webcast-ing experience — a complete failure of the network (this due to a power-outage). Even this neednot be catastrophic, if you can solicit an off-site partner to be available to log in to your meeting,and explain what has happened to the meeting participants. Another possible solution to thismight be to keep a laptop with a cellular network connection on hand.

James Lloyd,Training Developer, Promega Corporation

Anything can go wrong during a Webcast. Always have a backup plan.What will you do if thepresenter's audio is lost? What will you do if the video goes down? Some ideas include:

• Tell participants what's going on using the Chat pod,• Put up a slide that says,“We’re having technical difficulty. Be with you soon," • Have back-up headsets for the participants,• Turn off the video feed (it takes a ton of bandwidth), and • Always have a technical person available who knows the software and equipment to monitor

things during the Webcast.

Lisa Stepanovic, Business Practice Leader, e-Learning, Center for Business, Industry & Labor @ SLCC

Use the all-famous ADDIE model. Like writing a thesis paper, ADDIE covers every angle of proj-ect, from start to completion, and then some. Don't skip steps, or you may lose a valuable itemthat was important to the course and, more importantly, to the learner!

Michele Largman, Instructional Designer

144 Tips on Synchronous e-Learning Strategy + Research | 57

Use the all-fam-ous ADDIE model.Like writing a the-sis paper, ADDIEcovers every angleof project, fromstart to comple-tion, and thensome. Don't skipsteps, or you maylose a valuableitem that wasimportant to thecourse and, moreimportantly, tothe learner!

Michele Largman,Instructional Designer

VII. Tips for Technical Production, Planning andPreparation continued

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meeting the needs of those involved in the design, development,

and management of technology-delivered education and instruc-

tional content. It’s a member-driven online information center that

equips members with the resources needed to ensure that their

organization’s projects are successful, engages members in a

professional peer network, and focuses members on expanding

their own professional skills, knowledge, and expertise.

The Guild offers four levels of membership. Starting at the FREE

Associate level, the benefits you can gain from each level of mem-

bership will enhance your professional experience. At the higher

levels, you’ll discover The eLearning Guild can serve as the core

of your entire professional development program. Check it out!

n Learning Solutions e-Magazine

n Annual Salary &Compensation Report

n Community ConnectionsOnline Discussion Board

n The Guild Job Boardn Resource Directoryn Conference Proceedings

Everything Associatesreceive, and...

n Comprehensive GuildResearch 360˚ Reports

n 20% Event Discountsn Enhanced Job Board

Access

Everything Membersreceive, and...

n Online Forum Participation (11 Online Forums in 2008,offering 110 sessions)

n Online Events Archive(more than 382 sessions in all)

Everything Members Plusreceive, and...

n One Full ConferenceRegistration (TheeLearning Guild AnnualGathering or DevLearnConference & Expo)

n One Pre-conferenceWorkshop or a Colloquium Upgrade